


A Baker's Dozen

by ShearViscosity



Category: Frozen (2013), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M, Family, Hans (Disney) Redemption, Neglectful childhood, Post-Movie, References to other Disney movies, Retelling of Hansel and Gretel, redemption fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-08 15:51:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11649801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShearViscosity/pseuds/ShearViscosity
Summary: Banished from his lands, stripped of his title, and kicked out with only the clothes on his back, Hans has to make his own in the world. Things start looking up when he travels to a foreign land called Corona where a baker's daughter offers him some bread, a job, and perhaps something more. Thirteen chapters, starting with his actions in Frozen and ending with his redemption.





	1. The Thirteenth Son

Hans life wasn't a fairy tale.

Far from it in fact. He was the thirteenth in line for the throne. A prince by birth, but nowhere close enough to gain the throne as a king. His brothers knew that, and lorded it over him his whole life. They also pointed out that the only reason he was ever born was because his mother was so desperate for a girl, her little Hanna. Instead, after giving birth to twelve sons, she got Hans. Named for the daughter his mother always wanted and never got because she died giving birth to him- something else his brothers rubbed in his considering she had given birth to two sets of twins just fine. King Cobus mourned his Queen Anika and never remarried, letting his sons- Crown Prince Hendrik, Prince Alwin, Prince Bas, the older twins Princes Elbert and Egbert, Prince Ferdi, Prince Klaas, Prince Marten, Prince Gerard, Prince Otto, and the younger twins Prince Rupert and Wilbert- raise their baby brother, Prince Hans.

Hans never knew his mother, he only knew twelve brothers who loved teasing him and pranking him. His father was always too busy attending to the kingdom to pay attention to his youngest. While his older brothers- Hendrik, Alwin, and Bas married when he was rather young, they were too busy having their own families to pay attention to him. Ferdi was always kind to him, but he eventually found a beautiful princess with a kingdom of her own and left the Southern Isles. Klaas and Marten were diplomats to other kingdoms so they were seldom home, and Gerard was a general in the army. Otto, Rupert, and Wilbert, the closest in age to him, ignored him for two years.

For having such a big family, he had grown up just as isolated and lonely as Anna.

Princess Anna of Arendelle, who had fallen for him so easily for she so desperately wanted to be loved. He wanted it as well. Sure she wasn't the Snow White Ferdinand had married, she was a bit of klutz, and nowhere as poised as her sister, but she didn't care that he was a thirteenth son. She was in love with him, and her way out of the lonely world she lived in.

And she was his. He had volunteered to go to Arendelle for Elsa's coronation on behalf of the Southern Isles. A single queen, who had grown up isolated from the outside world? She was Hans' dream, his way to the throne that was always out of his reach. Except she had to turn out to be a bit of an ice queen, and that was before her powers were revealed. Only smiling politely, turning down dances the entire night, refusing to discuss potential marriages with other kingdoms. Anna was the opposite. Outgoing, friendly, and more than happy to be his wife.

The only problem was that she was second in line to the throne. Second was still better than thirteenth though. One accident, and nobody would think anything of it. But twelve (more like thirty with all the nieces and nephews he now had) and Hans would definitely be under suspicion.

Everything had seemed perfect, and Elsa's accident was just a minor hiccup in his plan. Except, the minor hiccup had turned into something major. Elsa refused to bless their marriage. Elsa had magic and unleashed a powerful winter on the land, and Anna just had to go after her sister.

That was fine with Hans though, he had been left in charge on the kingdom. Knowing that all eyes would be on him since he was engaged to Anna, he knew that he couldn't let the power go to his head. He had to be kind, thoughtful, and generous to win the people over, and it worked, he had them practically at his feet. The Duke of Weselton even unintentionally set himself up as the perfect foil to Hans' generous and caring self.

Truthfully, he hadn't expected Anna to last long in the storm before giving up and returning to the kingdom. He would at least let her feel like she was in charge before he sent men to go after Anna's sister. But then his horse had shown up, frightened, and no sign of Anna.

It was in that moment he realized he didn't love Anna. He was more scared of losing his throne than his fiancee. It was the closest he had ever been to being a king and it was going to slip through his fingers due to an ice queen and a flighty princess. Hans wanted to love Anna as much as she loved him, and wanted the fairytale ending of happily ever after his parents allegedly had. He really did want it. The problem was, he knew in his heart that he loved Anna's throne more than he loved her.

He kept it to himself though, there was no need to tell Anna- if she was still alive. Which was why he was intent on bringing Elsa back alive. Not just to end the winter, but to marry her if Anna was dead. Convincing her would be an issue, but perhaps if he helped her when she was most vulnerable and felt guilt over him losing Anna, she'd be open to marrying him. Not for love though like Anna, but guilt, which he was fine with. If anything it would lessen his own guilt over realizing he didn't love Anna.

As it turned out, Anna was as good as dead. Elsa had hit her in the heart with her magic. Only true love's kiss could break the curse and prevent Anna from freezing to death. Hans was well familiar with true love's kiss, Ferdi had awakened Snow White with it after all. He was also well aware that when he failed to break the curse, his secret would be known- he was just marrying Anna for the throne.

He could have drawn it out, attempted to kiss her and watch her face as it scrunched up in confusion, wondering why the kiss didn't work. Or he could do what he actually did- tell her the truth and hope it was enough to break her heart and cause her to freeze for good. Hans locked Anna alone in the room, unable to watch her slowly freeze to death. Putting out the fire, closing the blinds in an attempt to lower the temperature was a mercy act. She would have made such a perfect little obedient queen, he owed her that much.

There was still the problem of his throne. Anna was dying, Elsa was clearly not going to marry him, and there wouldn't be a throne if the entire land was frozen to death. A great solution popped into his head, a way to kill two birds with one stone. He lied to Elsa's advisers and convinced them that Anna had insisted on marriage before she died. She had actually insisted on true love's kiss, but the advisers didn't need to know that. Once they had declared him to be the king, he ordered Elsa's death since she had caused Anna's. Which, to be fair, was true- or at least would be by the time the act was done. Her death would also, presumably, end the winter.

Then once more, Elsa, who had been merely a minor hiccup turned into a major one. She escaped the guards before the deed was done and the storm was growing in intensity. Realizing that this was his crowning moment of glory, the moment he could prove himself to his new people, he ventured out into the storm after Elsa. Since breaking Anna's heart had seemed to cause her despair and unable to go on, surely the same could work on her sister. Hans didn't even have to lie, well not exactly. For all he knew Anna was dead by then and it was all Elsa's fault.

As expected, Elsa collapsed to the ground in despair and hopelessness. The storm even seemed to abate, getting clearer to allow him a perfect view to behead her. Hans had never killed anybody, and Elsa would be the first. He would go down in history as the great King Hans of Arendelle, who avenged his fiance's death by killing her monster of a sister, the sorceress and Snow Queen Elsa who brought death and destruction unto the land. Foreign princesses would fight to be his queen, and his brothers would be disgraced- they had never killed a monster or sorceress before. Ferdi had come closest, but all he did was kiss a girl he had loved and thought was dead. Which was even creepier than what Hans was about to do, once Hans thought about it.

But that moment never came. Anna, who had somehow managed to survive for much longer than he thought she would and stopped his sword from striking Elsa, causing it to shatter. Apparently Anna needed less of true love's kiss and more of an act of true love, for as his hands stopped throbbing from the sword which had shattered in his hands, she was being embraced by Elsa.

Before he could regain his footing, Elsa had reversed the winter she created, Anna was being embraced by a mountain man, and he got punched overboard by his former fiance while Elsa's advisers cheered in the background. And had he seen a talking snowman on deck, or was that just his imagination?

In less than three days he had gone from being a thirteenth son, to being engaged to a princess second in line for the throne, to being a king, and then to be a prisoner on his own ship. His brothers would never let him hear the end of it once he got home, and that wasn't even on top of whatever punishment they would dish out for nearly beheading the monarch of a foreign land and nearly killing her sister.

Meanwhile, Elsa, who in his eyes was just as guilty as he was, was embraced with open arms. Forgotten was the fact she had been responsible for Anna's freezing heart. Forgotten was the fact she had nearly brought about the worst catastrophe Arendelle had ever faced. Instead it was all love, acceptance and ice skating.

Elsa had gotten her happy ending along with Anna. Hans, had just as much if not worse of a childhood than theirs.

So where was his?


	2. The Eldest Daughter

Margaret's life wasn't a fairytale.

For starters, she was most certainly not a princess. Margaret, or Grete as she preferred to be called, was from a family of bakers. She was the eldest daughter and had five sisters- Becca, Lisa, Tilly, Cara, and Mia.

Her family lived on the floor above their bakery, which could be rather hectic at times. The sisters shared one bedroom with three to a bed. Sleeping in the middle of the bed, with a sister on each side wasn't the most pleasant thing to fall asleep too. Especially when they decided that your body made a great resting place for their cold feet. However, waking up next two people who loved you was nice after a bad dream. She'd never admit it out loud to them, but she really did love them, even when she never had any privacy or they were always taking her things. Of course, she'd always steal it right back- brush, mirror, hair tie, book or whatever else her younger sisters had taken and hidden away. The one nice thing about being the eldest was that they could never take her clothes, not until she outgrew them anyway.

With five active sisters, two protective parents, and other relatives working at the bakery, Grete was never alone. Not that she minded- much.

The Burg Family Bakery sold all sorts of breads, pastries, pretzels, noodles and other treats. One of their more well known breads was their signature Burg bread. Grete's father, Rueben Burg had worked for years to perfect a bread that would taste delicious to people, but not so much to bugs, rats, and other animals who had a fondness for nibbling on their bread. The key ingredient came from the woods over the bridge outside the kingdom. Only Grete and father knew what it looked like or where it grew. Her father was extremely protective of the identity of the plant that had brought great luck and fortune to his bakery. Grete only knew because she was with him on the day he found it- nobody else, not even Grete's mother knew the location. It for a good reason though- over the years a few spies from rival bakeries tried their best to learn the identity of the plant, though all had failed.

He was always trying out new ingredients and new spices in their baked goods. He would say, "Grete, our bread is good, no? But why settle for good when it could be great, or magnificent, something the angels themselves would sing about?"

She would always laugh at that. Her father could always make her laugh. Like the times he would bemoan his fate of having six daughters when he only wanted a son. The somber mood would quickly be ruined by him picking up whichever daughter was closest and tickling her, followed by letting his young daughters braid his hair and beard with flowers. The image of her father, huge and muscular, being decorated with flowers could always bring a smile to Grete's face, even when she was sad.

According to her mother, Gretchen, her father hadn't always been like that. He had once been a proud soldier in the king's army until a war injury forced him to return home and take over his father's bakery. Grete's grandfather had inherited from his father and so on, going as far back as Corona's beginning. Naturally Rueben wanted a son of his own to inherit the bakery, but got Grete and her sisters instead. He had been disappointed at first, but when Grete was placed into his arms when she was born, he was a changed man. Gretchen likened him to a loaf of day old bread- crusty and hard on the outside, but soft and light on the inside; getting softer and fresher with the arrival of each daughter. Once a strong, tough, soldier he was now a jolly giant, friendly to all those who came into his shop.

In the shop, her father saw to the baking side of things while her mother would be working on the pastries and decorations, or out front by a small cart to sell some goods to people who were in too much of a hurry to stop inside. Her younger sisters would play out in the plaza- playing chase, braiding each other's hair, or join some of the other neighborhood children. Grete and Becca were old enough to join some of their aunts and cousins in the kitchen doing the more delicate work with icing and decorations for the treats. Sometimes her father would let her join him in his experiments, or show her the business of running the bakery since she was going to inherit it someday.

Every once in a while the princess would stop by and let Grete's sisters play with Pascal while the princess stopped to chat with her subjects and see how their lives were going. She was pretty humble for a princess, which probably had to do with being locked in a tower for most of her life. However, she did have a genuine interest in the lives of her people and was also curious. Other kingdoms might find her behavior peculiar, but the villagers were so grateful to have their princess back, they didn't care if she was odd. Occasionally her husband would join her, though he'd do his best to keep his hands in plain sight lest anybody accuse him of returning to his thieving ways.

And that was Grete's life. Do chores, work at the bakery, watch her sisters, help her father. Occasionally their might be a festival or celebration. Or Jakob would stop by with fresh eggs, milk, flour and other supplies for the bakery while trying his best to flirt with Grete.

Jakob, she supposed was attractive, but he was also rather annoying. He was always bragging about the latest wares from foreign lands his merchant family had gotten in. He didn't even have to deliver the supplies to the bakery, he only did it so he could see Grete. Her mother was always encouraging her to be nice to him, but sometimes when his mouth was running about trading with foreign lands such as Arendelle, Agrabah, and others, and how great they were, Grete just wanted to slap him and ask, what was so wrong with Corona? What was so wrong that he wanted to leave and have adventures as soon as he was of age?

Not that she did. Her mother would have boxed her ears for being so rude, especially to Jakob of all people. "Don't bite the hand that feeds you," her mother would say.

That was Grete's life. It life wasn't a fairytale, nor did she want it to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's Grete. She's the opposite of Hans and Anna- the eldest, from a large and close family, and is okay with her life. The four little girls in the dance scene of Tangled who were braiding Rapunzel's hair are Grete's sisters. There's one brief shot of a woman next to a cart of bread who is her mother. The bread, and the cupcakes Rapunzel and Flynn share are all from the bakery.
> 
> Next chapter is 'Mercy' in which Hans receives his punishment and eventually ends up in Corona.


	3. Mercy

There had been very few times when Hans had been face to face with his father in the throne room. Even fewer when he had been the focus. And only this once when the majority of his brothers were present.

He had dreamed of this moment plenty of times involving a variety of scenarios. Sometimes it revolved around his father giving him an important mission or quest that only he could go on. Sometimes it involved his father declaring that all of his brothers were unfit to ascend the Southern Isles throne and he had chosen Hans as his heir. Sometimes it was as simple as his father telling Hans he loved him and embracing him in a hug.

His daydreams certainly never were about Hans being dragged in front of his father as a prisoner, in chains, and awaiting his punishment.

On the dais before him stood his father in front of his throne. King Cobus had his hands clasped firmly behind his back and had his steely gaze set upon Hans. Perched on top of his head was the golden and bejeweled crown that the kings of the Southern Isles had always worn- not that Hans would ever get a chance to wear it himself. Despite going white years ago, his father still had most of his hair including a fully grown beard.

Five of his brothers stood to the left of their father, and five to the right- Ferdi was with Snow White, and Klaas was too busy playing ambassador somewhere. Henrik was on the far left, and the brothers were standing in order from eldest to youngest. All were wearing their best suits and white gloves that matched their father. All also had the same stern look of disappointment and disgust on their faces.

Hans had been brought before them by the palace guards. His hands were in the same sort of chains Elsa had been in. Whether or not that was intentional, he didn't know; he wouldn't put it past his brothers to do such a thing. With his hands chained behind his back, it was awkward and hard to walk, not that the guards were making it any easier. Once they had stopped in front of the dais, they threw him to the knees, just adding to his humiliation.

He looked up into his father's eyes hoping for some glimpse of sadness or regret. All he saw instead were a pair of cold blue eyes judging him, without any warmth or love. "Prince Hans," said his father, "You were sent as an ambassador to Arendelle on behalf of the Southern Isles. The former king and queen of Arendelle perished in a storm on the way here, to negotiate a new trade agreement. It was my hope you would smooth things over with the new queen and get her to sign the agreement her parents failed to do so. Instead, you plan a coup, nearly behead her, and nearly kill her younger sister- your own fiancee."

"Father, there were extenuating circumstance, I'm sure-" began Hans in hopes to defend himself, only to be cut off by his father.

"Enough," boomed his father, his voice reverberating off of the walls, "I will not hear any excuse! You were lucky that Queen Elsa only sent you back in chains and not with one Arendelle's warships. I'll be sending Marten tomorrow in hopes he can still salvage an alliance with Arendelle."

Marten practically preened under the attention from their father and Hans snorted. Marten was the scholar, the ambassador, the one who got along well with everybody. It was actually sort of a surprise that he hadn't been sent in Hans place.

"I can see now it was a mistake to trust you when I should have sent Marten." And there it was, his father reading his mind. "Even Rupert and Wilbert could have done a better job," he said, referring to the younger twins who were notorious tricksters. "Now about your punishment."

His brothers and Hans all snapped to attention, curious as to what their father would decide. Surely he wouldn't execute Hans? Rupert and Wilbert had caused more chaos in the past, once the Duke of Weselton had threatened to go to war when they stole his toupee. Marten was the one who defused the situation, convincing him that the twins were merely hoping to surprise him with a better toupee on behalf of the Southern Isles and needed to know the appropriate size for the new one. Not only did the Duke eat it up, but he proclaimed the newer one better than the last- despite the tendency to flap about when he wasn't paying attention. The twins had only been confined to their rooms for a month for the stunt. Granted, what Hans had done was slightly worse, so perhaps two months, or three? Maybe a year? Or mucking out the stables? He had never gotten in trouble with his father before, so the odds should be in his favor of a lighter punishment.

"Prince Hans, You have dishonored your family and your country. As such, you are hereby stripped of your title, and banished from the Southern Isles. Wherever you go, you are required to get permission to stay there by the leader of the land, tell them your story, and present them with this letter. May they show you the mercy you failed to give Queen Elsa and Princess Anna."

There was a collective gasp in the room, from the palace guards, his brothers, and himself.

"Father please, reconsider-" The words came from Henrik surprisingly, he had never acted as if he cared about Hans before.

Their father raised a hand to silence Henrik. "I have made my decision, and considering his actions is a merciful one."

Hans started to laugh, the situation was truly hilarious. "Merciful?" he spat, "You call ignoring me my entire life, merciful?"

"It would be wise for you to shut your mouth boy," responded his father in an even sterner tone than before.

Hans didn't even bother to listen, he just continued laughing. "My entire life I've shut my mouth, hoping for some acknowledgement from you, but all you ever did-"

Smack.

The sound of his father backhanding him echoed loudly in the room, causing several of his brothers to flinch. His cheeks stung, but it couldn't compare to the hurt his heart was feeling. The first time in his life that Hans could remember being touched by his father and it was a slap. Not a hug or any other form of affection or comfort, but an act of malice and hate.

"I've had enough from this traitor's insolent mouth; take him away."

The guards dragged Hans to his feet. Judging from the tight grip they had on his arms, he would have bruises there tomorrow that would match the one that was currently forming on his face. His father had turned his back to Hans and his brothers had their eyes turned to the ground, refusing eye contact with Hans. All shared the same solemn look, not even the twins or Otto, the brothers who had ignored him for two years were rejoicing in his punishment. Normally the three relished the chance to mock Hans or take pleasure in his pain.

But not this time. This time was different, and they knew it.

"What about them," he yelled on his way out, "where's their punishment? I'm like this because of them! You gave me to them to raise and what a fine job they did!"

Hans never got to see the reaction to his words. He was out of the room and the doors were slammed in his face.

* * *

Hans was thrown back into his cell on the ship. The Southern Isles believed that locking prisoners up top was more of a punishment than being in the hold. Let them see what they're missing out on due to their crimes, was the philosophy. Before Hans thought it was ridiculous, but after spending several weeks in it, he understood the theory behind it. He was so close to freedom and the open air, but the iron bars stood in his way.

And once again, here he was. Living in a kingdom called the Southern Isles meant he was going to have to travel by ship before he could actually be banished. Until that moment he was stuck behind his bars once more. Not that he minded really. Perhaps his father would change his mind at the last minute. Perhaps one of his brothers would plan a daring escape. Perhaps the crew would release him and demand that he be the king instead.

Perhaps a fairy godmother would show up and wave her wand, making all his troubles go away. Because that was more probable than any of the other scenarios his brain had come up with so far.

He must have dozed off, something that he would have thought impossible a few weeks ago since his current bed was a slab of wood. Now that he had spent several weeks sleeping on it, he had no trouble dozing off before his head slammed against the back of his prison, jolting him awake. He rubbed the back of his head gently. At this rate every inch of him would be battered and bruised before the day was done.

A guard came and unlocked his door, leading Hans outside and down a plank onto land. None of the crew members, including the guards in front and behind him would look directly at him, choosing to sneak furtive glances his way. It wasn't everyday you saw royalty being banished.

As his feet touched ground, Hans took in the scenery around him and recognized it. Ferdi's kingdom jutted out a bit into the open water, and the closest kingdom to the main island where the capital was. Was this spot chosen because it was convenient, or did his father actually care and wanted Hans to have a chance? Knowing his luck, it was the former.

That was pretty much confirmed when the guard only gave him the letter his father had talked about. No money, supplies, change of clothes, just a useless piece of paper. Hans could just feel the  _love_ and  _care_  his father had for him.

Once the guard gave him the letter, he said, "We'll be boarding the ship now and you're to remain here. Our orders are to shoot on sight if you attempt to board or follow us."

With a quick turn on his heel, the guard joined the several other guards who had come along, and the ship was sailing off into the distance, leaving Hans alone. No last minute salvation was coming, nor was any fairy godmother.

Hans' life wasn't a fairytale, after all.

* * *

It took several days for him to reach Ferdi's castle on foot. If he had a horse, it would have taken less time. If he had food he wouldn't have to worry about scrounging something edible up in the forest, or stealing from farmhouses along his way. If he had money, he could have paid to stay in an inn instead of sneaking into barns at night and sleeping in the hay with the animals.

All he had was the stupid letter. The stupid letter he tore open and read once it was clear the ship wasn't coming back and he should abandon all hope. The letter was short and to the point:

_To my fellow sovereign,_

_Standing in front of you is my sorry excuse for a son. I have banished him from my kingdom for the attempted regicide of Queen Elsa of Arendelle, and the attempted murder of her younger sister, Princess Anna of Arendelle. He has instructions to tell you his tale and await permission to stay in your land after doing so. Banish him, behead him, or find mercy in your heart that he failed to find himself, I do not care. He is my son no longer._

_His Royal Majesty, King Corus of the Southern Isles_

When he did reach the castle, Hans had a hard time even getting a meeting with his brother due to his scraggly appearance. His clothes were torn and ripped in places, he hadn't shaved for almost a month, and he smelled like a barn. His appearance was befitting of a madman more than a prince.

Once he did manage to have an audience with his brother and present him their father's letter, Ferdi could offer nothing more than offering him a night in the castle and some supplies. Despite being the king of his own land, he was still afraid of their father and didn't want to be the one who offered his brother sanctuary and a place at his court. His wife Snow White, did insist that Hans was to be given a chance to bathe, some clean clothes, a decent meal, and a good night's sleep before he left.

And once more he was off. This time he had a pack of supplies, money, a horse, and a map to know where he was going. Looking at the map he saw that Weselton was close by. While he and the Duke may have butted heads on occasion, they did ultimately agree that Elsa had to be stopped.

His hopes were dashed quickly though. Barely an hour in Weselton and he was booted out- this time without supplies, money, his horse or his map. The Duke could protest all he wanted, but he was truly the Duke of Weaseltown. He gave a flowery and overly complex speech to Hans concerning the reasons behind his actions, but it pretty much came down to the Duke wanting to get back into Elsa's good graces and couldn't risk showing Hans any mercy.

By the time he was on the road again, there was a chill in the air- this time due to the natural progression of the seasons and not Elsa's powers. Without a map, he didn't know where he was going. He would come across the occasional trader or traveler, but all give the crazy-haired madman a wide berth on the road- not that he blamed them, he would have done the same.

He wondered along, doing what he could to get by. There were the few who might give him a few coins or bits of food out of pity and a desire for him to go away, or offer him payment in exchange for a little bit of work. It was such a droll and harsh life that Hans would often contemplate giving up. What was the point of living such a life when he would never find a ruler willing to give him mercy? Wouldn't it just be easier to go and lie in a ditch somewhere and welcome death with open arms?

Whenever such thoughts plagued him, he would feel a fire ignite inside of him, one fed off of all the anger and hate he had toward his father. He wasn't useless and wasn't a sorry excuse for a son. He'd show him, Hans would do something so incredible, it would show them all- his father and his brothers. He'd make them regret their actions toward him, and have them begging at his feet for forgiveness.

Thoughts like those gave him the desire and urge to continue on. Despair was powerful, but revenge was more than enough to take it on.

Once he came across a person who looked even crazier than him- a little humpbacked old lady, he saw in the forest alongside the path he was on. He got close to her, hoping for some shelter and food, but back away once he heard her strange mutterings. "Need some, need some, but he's too young, too young. Can a wait a bit more, wait a bit more, they always come back to me, come back to me."

That was too crazy, even for Hans.

The path did eventually lead to a cross roads, with one path leading across a long bridge and into a city. Hans decided to try that one first since it showed the most promise at leading to civilization. He recognized the golden sun on the purple backdrop that was everywhere, but couldn't remember where from. The cold night air was seeping into his bones, causing him to shiver violently. His stomach rumbled, as a reminder it had been days since his last decent meal. He doubted the rulers of this land would grant him asylum, but perhaps they'd be nice like Ferdi and at least give him a place to sleep. Maybe if he was lucky, they'd give him some clothing appropriate for winter to replace his current thread-barren summer ones.

A movement from the corner of his eye caused him to stop and pause. Turning, he saw it was... Anna? As the girl moved closer he realized he was mistaken. Her hair was red like Anna's, but more of an auburn color with more brown than red. It was braided down her back in a single French braid and not two pigtails. Her eyes were a warm chocolate brown, not blue. In her arms was a basket of rolls, breads, and other baked goods that made his mouth water.

She held out a roll in her right hand, hanging onto the basket with her left. "Would you like one? They're a couple days old, and I'm just taking them to the shelter down the street. It looks like you could use them just as much as the people there."

Hans eyed it warily. There had been several instances when people had offered him food only for it turn out to be a trap, or a chance for them to amuse themselves through his humiliation- something he wasn't a complete stranger to thanks to his brothers.

Seeing his hesitation, the girl said, "Go on, take it. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you. Though if you try anything on me, my dad won't hesitate to bake you in one of our ovens." There was a smile on her face, so Hans supposed it wasn't true, but something about the tone implied it could be. Either way, he was hungry and snatched the roll from her hands.

"There, see? Nothing to worry about."

Hans nodded in agreement. The roll may have been days old, but it tasted better than anything else he had eaten recently. There was a time when he would have scoffed at the thought of eating day old bread without any jam or butter to go with it, but now he didn't care. Food was food, and free food was even better.

The girl held out her free hand and offered it to him. "I'm Grete. What's your name?"

Swallowing a piece, Hans shook her hand and responded. "I'm Hans... Hansel."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can tell by the length of this chapter, the story is finally taking off. The first two chapters where more about setting up the characters than the actual story. Next chapter is called, 'Breaking Bread' and shows Hans adjusting to his new life at the bakery. I realize that a young girl offering a crazy looking guy bread and eventually a job isn't the smartest thing for a person to do, but there's a reason. The same goes for his name change at the end. Hopefully I did a good job keeping Hans in character.
> 
> Also thanks for the kudos and the comment on the last chapter!


	4. Breaking Bread

Hansel reminded Grete of a wild animal. Skittish, and ready to run if she made any sudden movements. The way he nearly jumped out of skin when she started to talk to him, and how his mouth seemed to water at the roll and her hand, yet his eyes were full of distrust indicated he had been through something horrible. Then again, Mia, who was six could have figured it out due to the state of his clothes. Tears everywhere, and no winter items at all. He had a scraggly beard with red hair growing in every direction. His beard hadn't been shaved in a while, let alone trimmed.

Grete silently guessed he must have been on the road for quite a well, but didn't dare ask. If she got too inquisitive, he might take off and then who knows what would happen.

"My family owns the bakery over there," she said pointing her right hand behind her. "We could get you a hot bath, and give you the small room by the kitchen for a place to sleep tonight."

His face scrunched up in confusion. "Why?" he asked. "You don't know me, I could be a madman for all you know. Didn't your parents ever tell you not to talk to strangers?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "One," she said, pointing her right index finger at him, "my family can see everything going on in their store window." To prove her point she turned around and waved. Hans could see two figures inside wave back. "Two, we're in Corona. The Prince Consort used to be a thief, and an orphan before that. He stole for survival. He and Princess Rapunzel believe the best way to decrease crime, is to increase charity. They've encouraged people to give to those in need and even set up shelters. That's where I was headed before I ran into you, on my way to donate food."

Hansel blinked at her, taking her words in. He must have been on the road for a very long time, there were few people around who hadn't heard of the changes in Corona. Some foreigners called them fools, while others called them generous. While not all the crime was gone from Corona, crimes being committed out of desperation in need to survive had gone down. It helped that all the ruffians and thugs at the nearby Snugly Duckling had reformed, some even joining the guards or joining other occupations. There would always be those who committed crimes out of greed, jealousy, or arrogance, but Grete liked to think that overall, Corona was a better place.

Now if she could only convince Hansel of that.

"Warm bath, safe place to sleep, decent food, maybe even a job... unless you're going to get any better offers out here?"

* * *

"No."

"But-"

"Grete, I'm with your father on this. I know the prince and princess want us to be more charitable towards those in need, but why should we let some stranger into our home?"

Grete was having a hard time convincing her parents to let Hansel stay the night. He was currently in the back near the ovens, trying his best to dissuade Gertrude, the family dog, from sniffing and licking him all over. Grete was with her parents in the front of the store, which had been closed for an hour ago, to have a private conversation. As private of a conversation one could have since all her of her sisters were gathered on top of the stairs on the landing, ears straining to hear the conversation below them.

"Just hear me out," she said. "Papa, your back and leg have been hurting you for a while, and you're having a hard time carrying supplies around the bakery. You need help-"

"Frank and Paul are more than enough help," insisted Rueben, referring to Grete's cousins.

Seeing where Grete was steering the conversation and finding herself suddenly in agreement with her daughter, Gretchen interjected, "Yes, but both will be leaving soon- Frank's got an apprenticeship with the butcher down the road, and Paul will soon be joining the guards at the castle. You could do with somebody to help you with the heavy lifting around here."

"And you don't even have to worry about him being of Josef's men," added Grete. Josef was the baker who had made several attempts in the past to find out the secret of their Burg bread. He had attempted to bribe some of their family who work there, approached Grete and her sisters in the street before, and had even offered her father a large sum of money for the recipe. The attempts had never been successful though, but it wouldn't be beneath Josef to send one of his people into the bakery as a worker. "He knew nothing of the reform in Corona, and well, look at him. He's been on the road for some time and is from a foreign land. Papa please," said Grete taking his hands into hers, "we all want you to be around for a very long time. You can't do that if you get hurt from overworking yourself."

Rueben looked at his daughter and his wife said, "Your daughter has a point, Reuben, and Gertrude approves of him."

"My daughter," he scoffed. "Why is it whenever she has an idea, she's my daughter and not yours? Fine, I give in. He has a week to prove himself and he sleeps in the kitchen away from  _my_  daughters."

"Shouldn't you be telling him that and not us?" asked Grete.

Her father tweaked her nose. "You're lucky you're cute," he said as he walked toward the kitchen where Hansel was waiting. Gertrude sitting by his side, pawing him occasionally for attention.

As her father exited the room, Grete's mother leaned over to him and said with a smirk, "Your father is like bread. Crusty on the outside, but soft on the inside- especially when it comes to his daughters."

* * *

Thwack.

"Be a little gentler Hansel, the dough will never rise if you beat the flour to death first," joked Frank. His uncle Rueben had told him to show Hansel what to do at the bakery before Frank left for good to be a butcher. He had been showing Hans where the supplies were when Frank's aunt Gretchen yelled for more flour. Since Hans would be doing the job in the future, Frank decided it'd be best to let him bring the flour in- he didn't know Hans would drop it like a bag of potatoes instead of a bag of flour which could easily rip open.

"Whatever," muttered Hans, not really caring. Sure his current living conditions were an improvement, but he was a prince by birth, not a manual worker. He had done odd jobs while on the road, but they were temporary. Hans didn't know if he could work in a bakery for the rest of his life. It was so... meh. Not befitting of royalty. Hans had ambitions to prove himself to his father and brothers. King and prince probably weren't career options at this point, but he could still end up as an adviser, diplomat... something more impressive than a baker. Actually he wasn't even a baker, just a lowly laborer who happened to work at a bakery. His brothers would be  _so_ impressed with that title.

Gretchen looked from where he slammed the bag on the wooden table she was using in the kitchen to Hans. "Frank, go home, you've done enough for today."

Frank nodded, and hung up his apron by the back door. He gave one last pat on the head to Gertrude before leaving for good.

Hans turned away, but Gretchen grabbed his arm. "What's wrong?"

Startled by her question, Hans blink a couple times in confusion. "I don't...what makes you think something's wrong?"

She put a hand on her hip and stared at him. "You stomp about, glare at everybody, snap at people, and just treated the flour like a mortal enemy. In the past two days, you've acted worse than my two teenage daughters. Now, what's wrong? Do you not like it here? Is there something we did?"

"No-o-o," stuttered Hans. He had told the Burgs very little about himself. Just that his last name was Anders, he was from Ferdi's kingdom, and all of his family was gone. Which in a way, was true. Sort of. Realizing that Gretchen wasn't going to leave him alone until she was satisfied, he wracked his brain trying to come up with an explanation that wouldn't reveal his true origins and wouldn't require him going to the king and queen of Corona only to be banished, again. "Um... it's just... nothing I've ever done could please my family. When I said they were gone, I didn't mean they had died. I meant they no longer considered me part of the family."

There. That should satisfy her and was near to the truth as he could get. Gretchen pulled a coin out of her pocket and placed it in Hans' hand. "Down the street is Josef's bakery. Go there and buy a bread roll."

"What?"

"Do it, for me," said Gretchen. "When you've got the roll, come straight back here."

* * *

"Get a roll, she said. Why should I get a roll when they have plenty of their own?" muttered Hans as he made his way down the street. He had very little interaction with the villagers so far, so many snuck looks at him, curious to see the new worker at Burg's bakery. One or two tried to come up to him to make conversation, or sell their wares, or gossip about how the Prince and Princess were expecting, but Hans waved them away. He wasn't in the mood to talk to them. He had a stupid roll to attend to.

Ten minutes later and he was at Josef's bakery. It wasn't exactly hard to miss- there was writing on the windows, on the writing above the windows, and of course the large sign above the door proclaiming the building to be Josef's bakery. The Burg's were a lot more subtle- a simple sign depicting a pretzel with the words, 'Burg Family Bakery'. The other buildings along the street shared the Burg's simple style, and weren't as loud as Josef's signage in a gaudy gold color. While yellow was one of Corona's colors, it wasn't as bright and flashy as the color on Josef's shop. Hans secretly suspected he was overcompensating for something. What that something was, he didn't know yet.

Wanting to get his shopping trip over with, Hans opened the door and entered the shop. For being mid-afternoon, the place wasn't very crowded, at least not as crowded as the Burg's. There were a few people milling about, but not enough that Hans had to wait in a line. There were several different types of rolls available, but Hans just grabbed the closest one and walked up to the counter to pay.

A roly-poly looking man was on the other side. He was shorter than Hans, and had combed over his dark hair in an attempt to conceal his bald spot. The Duke of Weselton's toupee was a better concealer than the hair.

Taking stock of the roll in Hans' hand, the man scoffed. "Is that all? Surely a strapping lad such as yourself could make do with a few loaves of bread, or some cupcakes for your sweetheart? What about some cranberry muffins?"

"The roll is fine," insisted Hans, and put the coin Gretchen had given him on the counter.

The man made a grab for it, but then stopped. "Hang on, you're Reuben's new worker... and yet you're here. Smart boy."

Hans bristled at being called a boy. He hadn't been a boy in years, and was rather close to telling the guy off, or the real reason he'd come in. Then he stopped, realizing that telling him Reuben's wife had sent him in to buy a roll probably wasn't the smartest thing to say, at least for Gretchen's sake.

The man held out his hand to Hans. "Josef Holst, owner of Josef's bakery."

Reluctantly, Hans took his hand and shook it. "Hansel Anders."

"Now Hansel," said Josef, "tell me, how is Rueben treating you over there? Has he trusted you with the secret ingredient yet?"

"Secret ingredient?" asked Hans, puzzled. He had been shown many things in the past two days, but none of which he would classify as secret.

Josef shook his head, and tutted. "Oh Hansel, I'm afraid Rueben doesn't trust you at all. Not much of a surprise considering he's refused to tell anybody, even his fellow bakers the secret to his Burg bread. Say, here's an idea- what if you snoop about and find out what it is, and bring it to me. I'll reward you handsomely, ten thousand gold coins."

Hans knew when he was being manipulated, his brothers had done it often enough to him over the years. He also knew within minutes of meeting him, Josef was a squirrely, greedy little man, willing to do anything for money- which Hans did understand. Yet, ten thousand gold coins was so tempting. The Burgs had been rather nice to take him in, something he doubted Josef would have done. But ten thousand gold coins...

He could buy a ship and sail to the Southern Isles, and show off his new found wealth to his brothers. And if they weren't impressed, he could always hire a band of mercenaries to get his point across, perhaps seize the throne for himself. Then again, he doubted his gold would go far enough to buy the amount of mercenaries or bribe the amount of palace guards needed to take over the Southern Isles.

Instead, he could buy himself a brand new wardrobe and charm some foreign princess, or become an adviser to the king. Or perhaps invest the money in trade, and receive more money thanks to his investments.

There were so many things he could do with the ten thousand coins, and all would be better than being a worker at a bakery.

After some debate, he replied, "I'll think about it." His response was worthy of a prince- not committing to anything, but leaving several possibilities nonetheless. If he found the ingredient Josef was referring to, he could bring it to him. If not, or if he got cold feet, well he hadn't said yes, so Josef couldn't hold him to anything.

Josef nodded. "Yes, yes, I understand your dilemma. Reuben has taken you into his home, but at the same time doesn't quite trust you. Take a few days to think it over and let me know." Josef shoved the coin back to Hans. "The roll is on the house. Think of it as an investment."

Hans knew enough about Josef to realize he had to be quite certain that Hans would follow through, in order to give up the coin. Only the promise of more coins would be enough for Josef to let go of one. That thought, combined with not wanting to be beholden to Josef, caused Hans to shove the coin back to Josef. "No, I insist. Wouldn't want word getting out that you're giving out your food for free, right?"

Josef laughed, his stomach bouncing up and down. "Of course," he said and picked up the coin, putting it into his pocket. "I like the way you think Hansel. You and I could go far together."

Hans smiled politely and grabbed his roll as he walked out the door.

He and Josef could go far together, indeed.

* * *

"Ah," said Gretchen as he entered the kitchen. "Put the roll down on the table."

Hans obliged, and placed the roll where Gretchen had indicated. Gretchen left the room, entering the front part of the building where the bakery was, before returning with a roll of similar size and color.

"People are like bread. Bread can come in a variety of types, sizes, and flavors, take these two rolls here. One is from our bakery and one is from Josef's."

"Alright..." said Hans, who really didn't know where the conversation was going. People were like bread? That was one of the craziest things he had ever heard of, including the time he thought he saw a magical snowman... in summer.

Gretchen picked up a nearby knife. "On the outside they look similar, but on the inside..." her voice trailed off as she cut each roll neatly in half. "On the inside, they are different. This one," she said, indicating the one on the left, "is from Josef's bakery. And this one," she said, indicating to the one on the right, "is from our bakery. Both breads are the same type and same age. Yet, Josef's bread is bland and stale, and ours is fresh and delicious. See?"

She handed Hans a piece of each roll, and he found himself agreeing with her. Josef's roll was indeed stale and bland, he had a hard time of swallowing one bite and wished he had a glass of water to help it down. Meanwhile, the roll from the bakery was light and airy. It tasted just like the one Grete had given him, almost as if he was eating a cloud.

"Now, the rolls looked the same on the outside, but tasted different on the inside. The reason is the ingredients. Josef cares more about his profit than the quality of his product, ordering the cheapest ingredients possible. Us Burgs take pride in our work and it shows in our food."

"Okay, I get that, but what does that have to do with me?"

Gretchen smiled and cupped his chin in her hand. "People are like bread. How they turn out depends on what goes into them. Right now, the anger and hate you have in your heart towards your family are Josef's ingredients. As long as you keep it in, you'll turn out like his bread- bland and stale. But if you let it all go, and enjoy the life you have now, you could be Burg bread. Don't be Josef bread Hansel, be Burg bread."

When she was done with her little speech, she patted his cheeks gently as if he was a child. For some reason, being treated like a boy wasn't as insulting as when Josef had done so. "Take the rest of the roll outside and feed it to the birds. Rueben will have a fit if he spots Josef's bread inside his own bakery."

Hans did as he was told, thinking her words over. In a weird way, they made sense. His actions in Arendelle could be traced to his feelings toward his family, and look how things had turned out. At the same time, it wasn't as if he could let go of everything in an instant. All the years of being ignored, or not being good enough. The desire to hear his father say just once, "I love you". Or the urge to pummel his brothers and have them beg for mercy at his feet.

It was so easy for Gretchen to tell him to let it go and be Burg bread.

But how did one go about doing it?

* * *

Hans had a lot to think about over the next several days between Josef's proposition and Gretchen's advice.

He was currently in the kitchen, where he spent most of his time working. At the moment he was busy washing the numerous bowls, pots, and utensils the bakery used each day. Gretchen and Reuben were in the front minding the customers, while Grete was making pretzels with Becca in the kitchen. Gertrude was nearby, patiently letting Grete's younger sisters braid her hair. Hans didn't envy her, he had woken up his first day to the sight of flowers and braids in his beard. Paul had been nice enough to trim Hans' beard enough where it would be too short to braid, but still conceal his face. Hans wasn't sure if he would stay in the kingdom, but thought a beard would at least obscure his sideburns and keep somebody from recognizing him.

"Hansel, are you okay?" asked Grete.

His head jerked up at the question. He and Grete had interacted very little since she had first invited him insider her home, so the question seemed a little out of nowhere. Had her mother talked to her? Told her to keep an eye on him?

"I'm fine," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

Grete shrugged and continued with rolling out the dough for the pretzels. "You've been really quiet today, more so than usual. Something on your mind?"

Hans' first reaction was to answer 'no', but then realized Grete might actually be able to help him. "I keep hearing something about the bakery's bread with a special ingredient in the marketplace. Mind explaining?"

"Papa's always experimenting with the bread. Years ago he found one ingredient from the forest outside of Corona that makes the bread last longer, and keeps pests and rodents away from it. We only use it in the Burg bread since only small patches of it grow," answered Grete.

"Wait, so you know what it is?"

"She's the only one who knows besides Papa," commented Becca.

Grete rolled her eyes. "Only because I was with him when he found it."

"Why keep it sch a secret, why not share it with the world?" asked Hans.

"Because," groaned Grete, who was used to the question and tired of answering it all the time, "It's only available in limited amounts. Papa and I've tried getting to grow elsewhere, but it won't. And because it's so limited, if everybody knew about, they'd take it all, and it'd never grow back."

That, actually made sense to Hans. He doubted Grete would lie to him about the limited quantity of the ingredient, which sounded like some sort of plant. If it was as limited as she claimed, he could certainly see Josef abusing the small amount available.

"Grete, my pretzels aren't turning out like yours," whined Becca who had crumpled her dough back up into a ball to try again.

"Nobody makes pretzels like Grete," said one of the younger sisters who had come over to join in the conversation. Hans didn't remember her name, he couldn't tell any of the four younger sisters apart.

"Yeah," agreed another one, the littlest of the sisters. "Grete's pretzels, Grete's pretzels," she said, taunting Grete, who just ignored her. When that wasn't getting her attention, the youngest upped the ante. "Gretel's pretzels, Gretel's pretzels."

That did the job and Grete turned around. "All four of you, outside,  _now._ _"_

The four listened to their eldest sister and scampered out the back door, with Gertrude close behind, eager to look after the youngest Burg's. All four sang, "Gretel's pretzels" on their way out, annoying Grete to no end.

Becca giggled. "You have to admit, it is quite catchy. You strike me as more of a Gretel than a Grete too. I think I'll start calling you from that on."

"My name is Grete," she insisted, but could see her sister wasn't going to listen.

Hans, who had been taking it all in stride, decided to join in. Grete had put his mind to ease about one of the thoughts plaguing his mind, and he was in a much better mood. "Whatever you say, _Gretel_."

Grete was ready to smack them both, but her mom stuck her head into the kitchen. "Grete, Hansel, Jakob's here with the week's supplies. I'll send him around back."

Hans frowned. "I understand why she told me the supplies had arrived, but why you?"

"Because Mama thinks Jakob and Gretel would make a good match," giggled Becca. "Gretel disagrees."

"Really?" asked Hans, amused, and not just at the fact Becca was continuing with calling her sister Gretel.

Grete waved a hand. "He's alright, just a bit too much for my taste."

Hans wanted to ask 'a bit too much what', but he didn't get the chance since that was the moment Jakob opened the back door. Hans assumed it was Jakob, and by Becca's and Grete's reactions he was right. Jakob was tall and skinny, rather lanky looking with tall black hair that jutted in every direction. His glasses kept slipping down his nose, and he would just keep pushing them back up with his index finger.

"Where's Frank? I have a wagon full of supplies outside just waiting to be unloaded," said Jakob, with another push of his glasses.

"Frank got an apprenticeship as a butcher, Hansel replaced him," replied Grete.

Jakob held out a hand, which Hansel took. "Glad to meet you Hansel. I have some papers for Grete to sign saying she got everything the bakery ordered. Are you alright unloading everything yourself?"

Hans nodded, it was his job after all. He wiped his wet hands on his apron to quickly dry them, and went outside where the wagon was waiting. There were several crates, bags, and barrels full of goods, and Hans unloaded them all, grateful that Frank had shown him where everything went ahead of time.

He had just finished unloading the last bag crate, containing easily breakable eggs when he heard an argument coming from the kitchen. Curious, he walked out of the pantry and into the large kitchen only to find Jakob and Grete in what seemed to be a heated discussion.

"Grete, come with me! It'll be fun, we'll see places like Arendelle, Agrabah, and other lands you don't even know existed!"

"Jakob, I don't want to go to foreign lands, I want to stay here, in Corona! And what's so wrong with Corona anyway that makes you want to leave so badly?"

"There's adventure out there! Don't you want to go on an adventure?"

Grete looked rather exacerbated and Hans guessed that she was about to lose it. He cleared his throat. "Ahem, Gretel, could you help me? I can't remember where the sugar goes..."

"Her name is not Grete, it's Gretel," puffed up Jakob, indignant that Hans couldn't remember her name.

"Actually it's Gretel now, here's your paperwork. I'd love to have this discussion further, but I have to get back to work, and I'm guessing you do too. Good luck on your journey," said Gretel as she practically forced Jakob out the back door before he could get one last word in.

She wiped her hands on her apron. "You said something about sugar?"

Hans nodded, and led her to the pantry. "Um... I guess I must have remembered where it went after all," he said sheepishly.

Gretel leaned against the door frame with her arms cross, and a look on her face that reminded Hans of her mother. "Uh-huh. You never had an issue with the sugar, did you? Thanks, by the way. Jakob... he has a hard time with letting go of an idea once he sets his mind on it. He's been wanting to travel on his family's merchant ships for a while, and now that he's of age, his parents are going to let him go. And he wanted me to come with him..."

"As his wife," finished Hans.

"It's not that I don't want to get married," said Gretel as she twisted her apron around in her hands. "It's just... I'm not ready to commit myself to a person, especially to Jakob. He's more like an annoying cousin or brother than a husband."

"I know," said Hans, and Gretel's head shot up. "I was, sort of engaged... it didn't end well," he explained. "It was quick, and I kind of broke it off once I realized I really wasn't in love."

Which was the truth. Hans had left out the part where he tried to kill his fiancee, but figured that might be a bit too much information.

"Wow," responded Gretel. "That's really mature of you. I wish Jakob could be like that. He's always talking about marriage and adventures, and neither sound that great. Look at you, on the road for all those months and seeing all those foreign lands... didn't seem like it was all that wonderful."

"It wasn't," agreed Hans. His circumstances were traveling were a bit different than Jakob though. Perhaps Jakob would fare better with actual money and support from his family. "Can I ask you something, Gretel? I know you said your father needed help around the bakery since Paul and Frank were leaving, but why me? Why not some random guy from the shelter?"

The question had been on his mind since the day before, when he had actually dropped off some food at the shelter. Men, women, and children had been there to get a hot meal, some newer clothes, to get out of the cold for a bit, or to see if any new jobs had been posted on the wall near the front. Hans realized that he would probably have ended up there too, if it hadn't been for the Burgs' generosity. While the shelter would have given him food and a bed, Hans would have hated ending up in one, being forced to rely on a hand-out for a survival. It would have been a low point for him, and made him a little more grateful for Gretel taking pity on him, and less inclined to follow through on Josef's offer.

Gretel shrugged. "I guess it was because you were out of town, so there was less chance of you working for Josef." She didn't notice him wincing slightly at that, and continued on. "And your eyes... they were so sad, and scared. It seemed like you could do with a break and somebody taking mercy on you."

The irony of Gretel's last sentence wasn't lost on Hans. He had needed mercy. He had just assumed it would come from his father, his brothers, or a king. It had never occurred to him it'd come from a daughter of a baker.

"Thanks, for that," he said quietly, not quite sure what he was saying. He had very rarely said thanks before in his life, let alone was sincere about it.

Gretel smiled at him, a very pretty smile he noticed. "You're welcome."

* * *

Hans' room was small, and on the other side of the pantry. It had been used for storage in the past, until it had been cleaned out a few years ago. Then it was used as a mini-break room of sorts, until it was given to Hans to use as a bedroom. There wasn't much in it, just a cot to sleep on, and a mirror with a small dresser beneath it. Inside were clothes that used to belong to Reuben that Gretchen had taken in to fit Hans. Compared to his room on the ship and where he had been sleeping the past few months, it was heaven.

At the moment though, he was having a hard time sleeping. Instead, he was looking at his father's letter and mulling over what to do. It was dark, but he didn't need to see the words. Those words had been ingrained into his memory months ago. The letter itself, was close to falling apart, and in nearly as bad condition as his clothes had been when he had first arrived in Corona.

It turned out, Hans remembered where he'd seen the colors before- one of the ships at Elsa's coronation had sported the colors and insignia. At one point during the coronation he could remember being introduced into the Princess of Corona, Rapunzel, and her Prince Consort. He had other things on his mind at the time such as his impending marriage to Anna and throne to claim, so he hadn't paid them much attention.

Perhaps that's why he had said Hansel rather than Hans when Gretel asked his name. Some little part of his frozen brain recognized the significance of the colors and realized that since the country's own prince and princess had been present for the coronation, they might not be so welcoming toward him. And Hans couldn't have dealt with another banishment, one more rejection.

He supposed it still wasn't too late to go to the castle and present his father's letter. But he didn't want to. He was actually starting to like it at the bakery. It may not have been what he imagined he would do when he was younger, but the Burgs were so different from the family he had grown up in. There were a lot of them, six children versus thirteen, but they were so close. They were loud and warm, whereas his family had been cold and distant. In less than a week he had felt more wanted and loved in the bakery than he had felt his entire life at the castle.

Part of him wondered if his family could have been like that if his mother had survived his birth. If she would have hugged him, and told him it was okay he wasn't born a Hanna. If she would have stepped in and told his three brothers to not ignore him for those two years. Nobody else seemed to care about him, perhaps she would have. There was a knot in his chest that he was unaware of having when he thought of his mother. His family had never talked much about her when he was younger, and he only knew what she looked like due to the paintings around the castle. Sometimes he would talk to them, and pretend that she would talk back and have a conversation with him.

He stopped once the twins caught him at it, and made fun of him. They told him he could have had actual conversations if he'd been born a girl and hadn't killed his mother.

It'd been a while since he thought about his mother. Going over Gretchen's speech in his mind, he discovered that he wanted it to be the sort of speech his own mother would have given him if she lived.

The sound of breaking glass caused him to jolt out of his daydreams. Gertrude wasn't barking, so he supposed it could be one of the family, but he still went to investigate since something doesn't feel right. Silently he walked out of his room and down the short hallway that lead to the kitchen. Gertrude was no where to be found, and the figure was rummaging through drawers and jars with only a candle for a light source.

That's when Hans knew something was wrong. If the intruder had been one of the family, they wouldn't be acting so stealthily. They also wouldn't have been startled when Hans appear in the kitchen- they would have known where his room was.

"What are you doing here?" growled Hans at the intruder. To his surprise, he was rather miffed that somebody broke into the bakery. It wasn't his bakery, wasn't his family, but that didn't stop his heart from pounding in his chest at the thought of harm coming to the Burgs.

The intruder held the candle out to light Hans' face and sighed, relieved. "Thank goodness, it's just you Hansel. You were taking your time getting back to me, so I decided to come do some investigating of my own."

Hans recognized the voice as belonging to Josef. Hans supposed he should have been surprised the lengths the man would go to for the recipe, but he wasn't. Hans had tried to kill two people for a throne, which breaking and entering couldn't compare to.

"Get out of here," hissed Hans. He understood why Josef broke in, but he didn't want to wake the family and discover him. What if the family awoke? What if they assumed Hans was in league with Josef? Hans was just starting to like his job, he didn't want to lose it because of this idiot.

"I will, as soon as I find the ingredient. Unless you know where it is? Ten thousand gold coins, Hansel. Just tell me where it is."

Hans didn't know, but judging by the way the light from the candle reflected off of Josef's eyes, he wouldn't have believed Hans. There was a crazy gleam in them, and Hans realized just how obsessed Josef was with the ingredient. Hans knew that gleam, it's one he'd seen reflected in the mirror so many times. It was one of passion, anger, and jealousy all rolled into one. A look that belonged to a man who was willing to do anything to get what he wanted- even kill.

Determined to keep the family safe, Hans said, "I know where it is, it's this way, in the pantry."

A grin spread across Josef's face. Like the gleam in his eye, it's the grin of somebody who was about to get what they always wanted. "I knew you were smart boy, I'll promise you'll be rewarded greatly for your help."

With a wave of his arm, Hans directed Josef in the direction of the pantry. As Josef passed, Hans discretely grabbed one of the rolling pins he had washed earlier that day off a shelf. Then, with a quick movement, Josef was on the ground unconscious, and Hans rushed to put out his candle before it could start a fire. On his way down, Josef had fallen into a shelving of pans, baking sheets, and bowls causing enough of a racket for the family to wake up and rush to the kitchen.

Gretchen, who was in the lead, reached Hans first and glanced between him and the unconscious Josef on the floor.

"Burg bread," was the only thing Hans said. And it's all he had to say to her.

* * *

It took nearly two hours before Hans was left alone in the kitchen. The glass had been swept up, the kingdom guard's had come and gone, taking Josef with them to be locked up permanently. Gertrude was found near the back door with a piece of meat close by, evidently drugged to keep her out of the way while Josef searched.

Rueben, upon realizing what Hans had done, had joyfully clapped him on the back and proclaimed that he didn't need a week to know Hans should stay. The girls, including Gretel, cheered a bit, while Gretchen looked on with a certain gleam in her eyes. It wasn't a gleam of anger and jealousy like Josef, and even Hans had in the past. It was a gleam of pride, and hope. Hans wouldn't have been surprised if this hadn't been Gretchen's true intention when she sent him to Josef's bakery. Though, she probably couldn't have counted on Josef resorting to robbery.

Once he was left alone in the kitchen, Hans went back to his bedroom and knelt on the ground. His fingers grasped the letter which had fallen to the ground when Hans had jolted out of bed and hurried to the kitchen. There was a fireplace in the kitchen, with a fire still going to heat the kitchen area, along with Hans' room. Barefoot, Hans walked on the cool wooden floor and toward it, letter in hand.

He looked down at the letter. Gretchen had said to let go of his past, of his hate and anger, and to be Burg bread. Tonight, Hans had seen what Josef bread turned out to be like first hand, and he didn't like it.

But letting go wasn't easy. The letter was the last tie he had to his father, to his former identity of being Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. Letting go wouldn't mean just letting go of all his anger and jealousy, but also letting go of all the hope for a reconciliation, for a happy ending with his family. Realistically, Hans knew those possibilities had sailed a long time ago, when he made his choice to betray Anna. That didn't mean he had stopped hoping.

_Be Burg bread, not Josef bread_. Those words rung in Hans' ears. _Be Burg bread, not Josef bread_. He had been Josef bread his entire life, maybe it was finally time to try being Burg bread.

He tossed the letter into the fire and watched as it caught on fire and disappeared. Along with it went his hopes of returning to the Southern Isles as a hero. Of showing his brothers up. Of being hugged by his father.

He was no longer Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. He was now Hansel Anders of Corona, who worked at the Burg Family Bakery.

He was now Burg bread.

And he was okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes about this chapter. Assuming that Hans was telling the truth about being ignored for two years by three brothers in the movie, there's an extra bit of fridge horror to that- none of his family members, or adults in his life, noticed it was going on, or cared enough to do something about it. Think about that. Nobody cared enough to tell his brothers to knock it off, and while it's possible they may have not done the invisible act around adults, Hans probably would have at least complained to somebody- and nothing happened for two years. And the fact that his three brothers were committed for that long... wow.
> 
> Since Grete has officially accepted Gretel as her name, and Hans has accepted Hansel, that's what I'm referring to them from now on as. As the Doctor once put it, your real name doesn't matter, it's the name you choose, like a promise you make. Both Grete and Hans choose new names, and I'm going with those. Do I realize they sound very similar to some certain fairy tale characters? Yes, I do. Like Disney I'm taking a well-known tale and rewriting it for my own purposes, though the witch won't come in until towards the end.
> 
> Also, the secret ingredient will be explained more, later-ish. I really wanted that rolling pin at the end to be a frying pan for a reference to Tangled, but realized he'd be more likely to come across a rolling pin rather than a frying pan in a bakery.
> 
> Next chapter is called, 'And The Beat Goes On'. It will jump about two to three years in the future and cover all the changes. Hansel will still be at the bakery, he and Gretel will be closer, there'll be a new member to the Burg household (though probably not who'd you guess), and some royal news (besides the subtle line in this chapter).


	5. And the Beat Goes On

The next three years passed in a blur.

Hansel had arrived in Corona in January. A few weeks after his arrival, the country experienced its first big snow storm of winter.

"Come on Hansel, let's build a snowman," the younger Burgs had cried. Upon learning that Hansel wasn't very fond of snow (thanks to Elsa's winter in summer, though he didn't mention the cause) they tried their best to drag him to the winter wonderland that awaited him outside. While he refused to admit it out loud, he did have fun.

Winter turned into spring, which brought Princess Rapunzel's birthday and Hansel's first lantern ceremony. If he hadn't seen real sorcery in Arendelle, he would have called the sight of thousands of paper lanterns ascending into the air, shining fiercely against the black night, magic. He knew better, but his breath still got caught in his throat.

Summer arrived, bringing with it the birth of the new princess. Princess Aurora was named for her mother, and her maternal great-grandmother. Princess Rapunzel had been called Aurora at her birth, but once she returned and the king and queen learned she had been called Rapunzel her whole life, they decided to go along with it.

Fall came, bringing with it pumpkin everything. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pies, along with spiced apple pastries.

Then it was winter again. Followed by spring, summer, fall, and another winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter. Spring. Again and again and again.

The seasons came and went easily, and Hansel found himself gradually adjusting to his new life at the Burg Family Bakery and in Corona. There were still times when he'd revert to his old self. Those moments were usually when it was long day, and Hansel was tired and quick to anger. He'd snap at the person who was closest to him, and immediately regret it afterwards. He would apologize of course, and remind himself to be Burg bread. Changing one's behavior and attitude wasn't an instant process; it took time, dedication, and patience.

And living in the same space as six active girls had taught him plenty of patience. While Gretel was rather calm, her younger sisters were wild and reminded Hansel of a spring storm- uncontrollable, and unpredictable. When he had first joined the bakery he had lumped all the younger Burgs together, but over the years had gotten to know them quite well. The sisters shared the same shade of auburn hair, a love of braiding and mischief, but that's where their similarities ended.

Becca, known as Rebecca whenever she was in trouble with her mother, was the second oldest and worked in the bakery with Gretel and their mother. She also could talk a person's ear off. She had inherited her father's jolly and social nature, and was quite popular with the customers, including many of the young boys in Corona. Hansel noted at seventeen she had more suitors than most princesses did.

Lisa, short for Lisbeth, was the quietest of the sisters. When she wasn't with her sisters she could be found in whatever quiet corner of the bakery she could manage (usually in Hansel's room where nobody would look for her, not that he minded too much) with her nose in a book, or down the street at the bookstore. She may not have been born with her father's social nature like Becca had, but she did share his business savvy and had even started to help him with the books, even at the young age of fifteen.

Mathilde, or Tilly as she was more commonly called, didn't just have a love for braiding. Her hands were always moving, either embroidering, knitting, crocheting, sewing- anything that involved cloth or yarn, she could do. When she didn't have anything in her hands, her fingers would tap away in boredom. Hansel would usually slip her some socks to darn, shirts with holes that needed patching, and more than once had 'accidentally' ripped some of his clothes to keep her busy. It first started as a tactic to keep her incessant tapping at bay, but had turned into a friendship of sorts. If he wasn't too busy, she'd show him some of the basic techniques. His brothers would have laughed at him for learning what they would consider 'women's work' but after living in rags for several months or walking in shoes with holes, Hansel was grateful for knowledge he once needed but didn't have. Hansel knew that Gretchen and Reuben were in talks with one of the town's finest seamstresses about an apprenticeship for Tilly.

Cara was next, and was only ten. She was the tinkerer of the Burgs and was fascinated with how things worked. Hansel could still remember the proud look on her seven year-old face as she explained how the lanterns worked when he saw them for the first time. She was a mix of Lisa and Tilly- could be found with her nose in a science book or somewhere around the bakery with a tool in her hand, insisting she was 'fixing' a piece of equipment or furniture. Hansel didn't know if the things she'd fixed were truly broken or if she had encouraged them a bit, but she had managed to stop the drawers in his dresser from getting stuck whenever he pulled them open.

Mia, was the baby of the family. She was the one who had called Grete, Gretel, and the name had stuck. Ever since adopting the new name, Jakob's attempts at wooing Gretel had decreased over time, until he left to go off and see the world like he always wanted. As the youngest Burg, at only seven, Mia was constantly trying to keep up with her older sisters, especially as they grew up and spent less and less time playing with each other, or braiding each other's hair. She would often get in the way, and be told 'she wasn't old' enough to help. Hansel had grown close to all of the Burgs, but the youngest was another story. He knew what it was like to be the baby of the family, the youngest of many siblings and being constantly overlooked.

Hansel would go out of his way to indulge each of the younger Burgs- letting Lisa read in his room and occasionally hiding a new book or two for her to find, providing Tilly with clothes to mend, and letting Cara babble on about the latest scientific theory she had read. For Mia, he would slip her extra trinkets for her hair such as a new ribbon from the marketplace. He'd also pay attention, and whenever she seemed to get on her sisters' last nerves, Hansel would give her a small task to do, making her feel important. While Hansel doubted Mia would turn out like he had, he still tried his best to make Mia feel as if she was needed in the bakery- something he had never felt during his entire childhood. Sometimes Gretchen or Reuben would catch him in those moments, and give him a smile. Gretchen would always tap his hand softly, and say, "Burg bread".

Over the three years, there had been a new addition to the household. Two years had passed since he arrived in Corona, and Hansel was on his way back from delivering food to the shelter, when a small noise had caught his attention. Curious, Hansel managed to trace the noise to underneath the cart in front of the shop. Since it was the end of the day, everything had been taken inside and the cart was empty. Except for the small kitten who was using it as a shelter.

Hansel had never been much of a cat person. He had hunted with the palace dogs before, and was well acquainted with horses, but had spent very little time around cats. The pitiful mewing coming from the kitten and the matted state of its fur was still enough to pull at Hansel's heart however. Enough that for a split second he was reminded of himself only two years ago, in a similar state, and in much need of some love and attention.

Since Hansel didn't know much about how to look after a kitten, or small animals in general, he went to Gretchen. Gretchen was more than happy to show him how to get the kitten to drink from a small bowl, and helped him give the kitten a warm bath. All of the Burg girls cooed over him, and Hansel doubted the kitten could go more than a day with at least one ribbon in its yellow fur.

The girls tried their best to get the kitten to sleep in their room, but he always managed to slip past the door and make his way to Hansel's room where he would curl up contently on Hansel's chest. Gretel would always tease him about, calling the kitten Hansel's baby. He tried to shake his furry companion several times, but eventually gave up and realized it was too much of an effort. Hansel finally accepted his inevitable fate as the kitten's guardian when he walked in on the girls arguing about names.

Becca wanted to call him Fritz after her latest beau, Lisa was arguing for Puss, Tilly was in favor of Mittens, Cara's vote was for Schnitzel, and Mia wanted Fluffy. Gretel, who hadn't voiced her opinion yet, pointed out that since the kitten had unofficially adopted Hansel as his father, it was Hansel's right to name him. Not wanting the kitten to end up with Fluffy or Mittens as a name, he relented and agreed with Gretel. He chose what he thought was a nice, strong, name for a cat- Theodore. What Hansel overlooked was the girls' desire for a cute name for the newest Burg, and as a result they shortened the name to Teddy.

Teddy prospered in the Burg household, growing into a fine looking cat with yellow-orange fur, green eyes, and a stripped tail. There was one odd thing about Teddy- he didn't act like much of a cat. He always had his nose to the ground like a bloodhound. Occasionally Teddy would stop, pick up his front leg, straighten out his tail as if he was on a hunt. Teddy would also wag his tail like a dog, and strongly reminded Hansel of the dogs from his days in the Southern Isles. Hansel and the others suspected that some of the behavior might be due to Gertrude acting as a mother to Teddy when Hansel was too busy working in the bakery and couldn't look after Teddy. There were also times it seemed like Teddy understand everything which was said to him, as if he was a human.

Whatever the reason, Teddy was a welcomed addition to the Burg Family Bakery. Just like Hansel had been. Oddities and all.

* * *

Three years and four months had passed since that cold January day when Hansel had first entered the bakery and it was now May.

Hansel was in the back, putting away the week's supplies with Teddy following close behind. Since Jakob had left for the whirlwind adventure he had always wanted, Will, his younger brother had taken over the deliveries. Hansel knew that his visits had less to do with replacing his brother, and more to do with getting a chance to see Becca, who returned his affections.

While Hansel was busy unloading the wagon, Will was busy with Becca in the far corner of the room. It was just kissing, Will wasn't daring enough to do anything more with Becca's father in the other room, but it was starting to get a bit much for Hansel- he didn't even know how they were managing to breathe. Hansel paused, and gave a toss of his head to the duo's direction. Teddy, who was watching dutifully, looked from Hansel to the couple and gave a small nod, before trotting off to the corner to separate the lovesick couple.

Teddy really didn't have to do that much. Simply paw away at Becca's dress until she bothered to look down. He tilted his head to the side and gave out a dismal, "Mew?" Whenever Teddy mewed it sounded more like a question, as if he was really saying, 'What do you think of my cat imitation?'

As dismal as it was, the mewing did the trick and Becca broke away from Will in order to scoop Teddy up in her arms. She saw Will a couple times a week. Teddy, begging her for attention rather than following Hansel and Gretel around was much rarer, and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity to cuddle the cat.

The next time Hansel walked into the room, with a bag of sugar over his shoulder, he did his best to suppress the wide grin on his face. Becca had Teddy sprawled out contently on his back in her arms, and Will was standing off to the side dejectedly while his girl was making cooing noises at a cat.

"Well Will, that was the last of it," said Hansel with a smirk on his face. "Better be heading out, I hear Attila can be quite the grump if he's unable to make his favorite batch of cupcakes each day. Same time next week?"

"Same time next week," grumbled Will. He tried to go in for a kiss on Becca's lips, but only managed her left cheek. Sighing, he realized he couldn't compete with a cat and left the bakery in a gloomy mood.

As soon as Will was out the door, Teddy leaped out of Becca's arms and made his way to Gretel, who was standing by the door which led into the shop. "Mew?" inquired Teddy as he pawed at Gretel's dress, in the same manner he had just did to her sister a few minutes before.

"How long have you been there?" asked Hansel as she knelt down in order to pet Teddy on the hand.

"Not long," she replied. "Just long enough to see Becca to send Will on his way without a goodbye."

Becca came over from her spot in the corner and joined the trio at the door. "I like to keep Will on his toes, can't have him thinking I'm his for keeps. If I didn't, he might not have invited me to the Princess's coronation ball."

Gretel's head snapped up at her sister. "You're going to the ball?" she asked, ignoring Teddy's paw to get her attention back onto him.

Becca nodded, with a dreamy look on her face. "Will's family got invited and since Jakob isn't back yet, I get to go in his place. Papa even managed to agree to buy me a brand new dress," she said, twirling around in a circle, pretending her simple hand me down dress from Gretel was a beautiful new ball gown.

Hansel let out a low whistle in admiration, while Gretel rolled her eyes at her sister's reaction. Leave it to Becca to be more obsessed with a new dress than the fact she was getting to go to the coronation ball.

The current King and Queen of Corona were not deceased, instead they were abdicating the throne in favor of their daughter and her husband. For eighteen years they had thrown themselves into their work as a means to cope with the hole in their hearts, put there by their daughter's absence. Their daughter's return caused them great joy, but also made them realize how much they had missed out as parents. They would never be able to get those precious moments back, but they could cherish their time as grandparents. Little Princess Aurora was surely the first to come in a long line of grandchildren and they wanted to spend every moment possible with her and her future siblings. The additional benefit by passing the throne on through choice rather than death, was that they would be free to help and guide the new king and queen.

Corona was all abuzz regarding the coronation, the last one being nearly three decades ago. The coronation was to be held on the summer solstice next month, and the Burg bakery was already in the planning stages of the month long celebration. The coronation meant hundreds of foreigners would be pouring into the kingdom, all needing fresh baked goods.

"There'll be all sorts of royalty and important dignitaries there," continued Becca. "Will says there'll be representatives from as far away as Maldonia and Arendelle."

Hansel gulped nervously at the mention of Arendelle. He wouldn't even be at the ball, just with Gretel and the other villagers as they celebrated outside in the streets. There was no reason for him to even encounter the representatives from Arendelle let alone be recognized. Without his sideburns, the beard and muscles he had gained over the past three years, he doubted his own brothers would recognize him.

Neither Becca nor Gretel noticed his nerves and Teddy was too busy soaking up their attention to care. "Will says, huh? Sounds like you're sweeter on Will than you let on," responded Gretel.

Becca shrugged and started to play with her braid. "Not like it matters, the only wedding talk Mama will hear of is between you and Hansel and that's not happening anytime soon."

Gretel and Hansel both blushed. Over the past three years Hansel had gotten to know all of the Burg daughters very well, particularly the eldest. He knew that when she smiled, her eyes did as well. Her favorite color was yellow and she had a bit of her sweet tooth. She was extremely fond of flowers- in her hair, flower patterns on her dresses, flowers in the vase that Hansel always kept out in the kitchen. Gretel could care less about the color or type, she just liked the smell and how they reminded her of spring and summer. She was down to earth and full of common sense, just like her mother.

For two years they had been acquaintances, then friends. It was right around the time Teddy came along that they started to grow closer. At first sharing glances, holding hands, stealing a kiss here and there. Hansel had proposed to Anna after barely a day, thinking it was true love. He had of course learned otherwise, with disastrous results. With Gretel he wanted to take it slow, make sure his feelings were real, not just the products of an imaginative and hopeful mind. Gretel, to her credit, understood. She wasn't Becca, flitting from suitor to suitor like a butterfly. Being with Hansel for over a year was the longest she had been courted, and she was aware of his past engagement. Gretel didn't know the exact details, no more than what he had revealed during his first week. Only once had she pressed for more, but stopped once she saw the pain in his eyes.

Hansel and Gretel may have been okay with taking it slow, but the rest of the Burg family wasn't. To them, Hansel was family and a wedding would just make it official. Gretchen was nowhere as overbearing as some of Gretel's aunts, but Gretel had caught her several times gazing into the dress shops and remarking on the latest bridal trends. Hansel had caught Reuben referring to him and Gretel as the future owners of the bakery.

"You're being over-dramatic," said Gretel after a pregnant pause. "How many other boys have you sworn you'd marry, only to drop them like flies a few months later? Now get back to work, the front is almost out pretzels."

Becca rolled her brown eyes at Gretel, but obeyed nonetheless. Gretel then turned around to Hansel. "Since some of us won't be attending the ball and will have to get our own lanterns," she said while looking at Becca, "do you want to come to Lumiere's tomorrow with us? Mama is having me take Lisa, Tilly, Cara and Mia to decorate their lanterns, but I didn't know if you'd like to come along."

Lumiere's Lanterns was one of the many lantern shops in the lantern district. The kingdom only released lanterns a few times a year, but each year the demand grew for those few nights. Many shops had opened in Corona to keep up with the demand for the paper lanterns, offering them in all types of sizes and shapes. The most recent trend was to have different colors, and allow people to customize their own lantern to release into the air. Lumiere's was one of the premiere shops, and it was best to go several weeks in advance to secure lanterns. The owner was from some poor provincial town in France, but had grown up in a remote castle, only to migrate to Corona and set up a shop named for his father. Rumor had it that his father was where he got his love of fire from.

"I'd love to," said Hansel.

Gretel smiled at him; her warm brown eyes did too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this chapter was more about showing time passing and how Hans has changed. It's not something that could happen overnight, and he's still dealing with it every day. Whereas once he had clumped the four youngest Burgs together in his mind and didn't pay them much attention, he now knows each one.
> 
> Teddy, the new addition, was another step to helping him be a better person, teaching him about responsibility, helping others, and letting him grow closer to Gretel. Teddy, is also my version of Maximus and Sven- animals who act more like dogs and have the intelligence of humans. For some reason the idea of a cat acting like that greatly amuses me. I don't know if anybody else would find it funny, but I do.
> 
> As for Gretel and Hansel's relationship, after the events of Frozen, I think he'd take things rather slow. Making sure it was love, and that he really cared about Gretel. Gretel's smart enough to realize he has his reasons.
> 
> Abdication is something that monarchs would do. It was rare, and not entirely of their free will, but it's not unheard of. Given the reasons I listed, I think it makes sense for their characters. They missed out on Rapunzel's childhood, and I doubt they would want to miss out on their grandchildren's. And they'd be around to help Rapunzel and Eugene.
> 
> About the Disney references:
> 
> I really didn't mean to include all these Disney references when I first started this story, but I've embraced it. I was having an issue coming up with a name for Rapunzel's and Eugene's daughter, but thought Aurora was appropriate since it meant 'dawn', and Corona was rather obsessed with the sun. That brought up the issue of Sleeping Beauty who has the same name, so I just made her Rapunzel's great-grandmother. In Tangled Rapunzel was always referred to as the 'lost princess' and it's never clear if Rapunzel was her birth name, or just the name Gothel gave her. I highly doubt Gothel would have been stupid enough to give Rapunzel her real name and real birthday. If somebody ever found her, or if Rapunzel ever found out about the lost princess it wouldn't have taken much to realize Rapunzel's true identity. Also, Rapunzel's story mirrors Sleeping Beauty's a little. I thought it was sort of implied the King and Queen of Corona had issues with conceiving a child, like Sleeping Beauty's parents, and then they had a beautiful daughter who was separated from them as a baby.
> 
> Another thing that was never shown in Tangled was where all those lanterns came from. Lantern making has to be some sort of industry in Corona. When I think of candles and fire in Disney, I think of Lumiere. Lumiere's Lanterns is the result of that, and was founded by a son of Lumiere and Fifi, the duster.
> 
> A very subtle one was to Attila. He's mentioned in one line, and this is the earliest I could manage to squeeze him in. He was the Pub Thug in Tangled whose cupcakes were 'sublime'. When Josef went to jail, his bakery closed until Attila opened his own shop. Looks like he got his dream after all.
> 
> I have several other Disney references planned, so keep an eye out for them.
> 
> Next chapter is called, 'Tiptoeing Through the Tulips'. Lumiere's shop is visited, and Gretel trusts Hansel with a secret.


	6. Tiptoeing Through the Tulips

Lumiere's was located on the side of the village close to the docks, along with the other lantern makers. It was a two story building that was easily recognizable, and distinct from the others in the lantern district due to its French style. There were multiple white pillars and arches along the front of the building, and a balcony on the second floor for patrons to gather for lantern ceremonies. The inside was just as grand, with windows and mirrors everywhere, boxed ceilings, gold leaf trimmings, and cherubs adorning the doorways. It was as if they had stepped into another time, another place. The grandeur reminded Hansel of his family's palace in the Southern Isles, except this place was more warm, more welcoming. The style may have been foreign, but the feel was Coronian.

The decor was expensive, but none of the Burgs nor Hansel felt under-dressed. They weren't wealthy, not like Jakob's family, but they did well enough. There were plenty of fellow villagers milling about dressed similar in style to them. Lumiere's was decorated extravagantly because of the owner's French heritage, not because of the wealth of patrons. The majority of the business Lumiere's did was providing lanterns to the castle and to ships in the harbor. This allowed Pierre, the owner, to charge cheap rates for the villagers to buy and decorate their own lanterns in small rooms.

A pretty blonde greeted Hansel, Gretel, Lisa, Tilly, Cara, Mia, and Teddy- who had slipped in behind, despite Hansel's insistence that he stay outside- at the door. She was wearing a dress that was a bit too tight in certain areas, making Gretel glad that Becca didn't come; she'd no doubt insist on getting one just like it. Hansel meanwhile tried his best to concentrate on her face rather than how the dress showed off the girl's figure.

"Welcome to Lumiere's," she said with a French accent. "My name is Babette. How may I help you?"

Gretel stepped forward, taking charge of, the conversation. "We'd like to purchase and decorate some lanterns for the ceremony next month."

Babette clapped her hands together, excitedly. "Wonderful. We've had a lot of customers today, so it might be a while before a room is free. What's the name?"

"That's okay, we'll wait," replied Gretel. "We're the Burgs."

"Very well," responded Babette, "I'll go and see if any rooms are free."

With Babette gone, Gretel and the others looked around the foyer for a place to sit. Gretel spotted a blue velvet chaise across the room and motioned for the others to follow her. The chaise was long enough to sit the six of them, though not as comfortably as they would have liked. Unfortunately, the other chairs and chaises dotted about the room were full.

Teddy hopped up on Gretel's lap and curled up into a ball for a nap. "I thought you said you left Teddy outside," said Gretel to Hansel, who was on her right, at the end of the chaise.

"So did I," muttered Hansel, holding out a hand to pet Teddy's head. "You're supposed to be outside."

A smug look crossed Teddy's face. He was well aware of where he was supposed to be, but didn't seem to care too much. Gretel had often said he was Hansel's baby. He was over a year old now; perhaps he had grown out of the baby phase, and into the stubborn teenager phase? Was there such a phase for cats?

Before Hansel could spend more time pondering the age stages for a cat, a well-dressed man came over. His dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and his ruffled shirt and jacket matched his trousers.

"Ah, Monsieur and mademoiselles your room is ready. Even Le Maître Chat, is welcome to join," said the man.

"But what about the other people who are waiting?" asked Cara.

"Yeah, and won't the owner mind?" asked Tilly, a couple seconds later.

"'The other people' as you put it, are simply enjoying the atmosphere, and are in no hurry for lanterns," he said, answering Cara's question. "As for the owner not minding, well I'm quite sure he won't." The man bent down closer to Tilly, and said in a conspiratorial tone of voice, "You see mademoiselle, I am the owner."

Tilly, Cara, and Mia let out small gasps at the relevation, while Hansel, Gretel, and Lisa had managed to silently guess the identity of the man. Gretel and her sisters had visited Lumiere's before, but had never met the owner, Pierre, face to face. Until today it seemed.

Pierre chuckled at their reactions. "Now my little Burgs, it's time for you to make your lanterns. My daughter Babette shall show you the way to your room."

* * *

The room wasn't as fancy as the foyer, and was more like the bakery. There was a long wooden table in the middle of the room with eight stools around it. On the far side of the wall were shelves holding all sorts of paper lanterns. Tall, short, cylinders, spheres, rectangular, cubes, fat, short. The majority were the traditional creme color with the sun insignia, but there were other colors as well. Colored lanterns were an up and coming trend, as was allowing people to decorate lanterns themselves. Sometimes with pictures, hand prints, or hopes and prayers. Lumiere's encouraged the trend and had a selection of paints and brushes on one of the shelves, along with small bowls full of water.

Hansel, Tilly, Cara, and Mia made a move for some of the colored lanterns, while Gretel and Lisa opted for the more traditional choices. Gretel didn't consider herself very creative or artistically inclined, and Lisa just preferred the simple and familiar design. Teddy climbed on top of one of the stools and watched as the Burgs and Hansel spread out the lanterns and supplies on the table.

Since they were going with the basic lanterns, all Lisa and Gretel had to do was simply pick their lanterns and prop them open, checking for any tears. There were none, which wasn't much of a surprise considering Lumiere's reputation, but they checked just the same. Satisfied with her choice of a sphere, Lisa pulled out a book and began to read. Gretel leaned over to Hansel who was quite intent on his.

"What are you painting?" she asked, leaning over to catch a glimpse.

Hansel shooed her away. "Not yet, it's not ready."

"Somebody's a perfectionist," she muttered under her breath and moved around the table to check on her sisters. Gretel had never pegged Hansel as the sensitive artist type, so that was a bit of a surprise. She had never pegged him as a cat lover either; Hansel was just full of surprises.

Tilly had chosen a purple cylinder, and was busy painting golden lines which weaved in out of each other, creating the image of braids. Cara had a creme sphere before her, but had a small woven basket which she was connecting to the sphere.

Looking up at Gretel's inquisitive face, Cara said, "I read about a new invention from France. It uses the same principle as the lanterns to rise, but is bigger, and can carry people with a basket underneath. I wanted to see if a small scale version would work."

"I'm sure it will," replied Gretel. If anybody could get it to work, it'd be Cara. Gretel then moved on to Mia. Mia had several different lanterns in a rainbow of colors, and several bottles of paint before her.

"I don't know what to do," she said, pouting. "There's just too many choices!"

"Well," began Gretel, "your favorite color is yellow. Why don't you choose a yellow lantern?"

Mia nodded, and Gretel shoved all the non-yellow lanterns to the side. Surveying her final choices, she pointed at the one in the middle. "I like the tall one."

"Alright, the tall one it is then." Gretel then put the other lanterns away, so Mia would have fewer distractions and not second guess herself.

"I still don't know what to paint," said Mia, once Gretel got back and sat down on the stool next to Mia.

"I didn't know what to paint either, that's why I picked one of the traditional ones. You could paint flowers, write something. I could paint your hands if you like," offered Gretel.

Mia's face lit up at the suggestion. "Really? Can you make them purple so they'll match the yellow?"

Painting Mia's hands and helping her place them firmly on the lantern didn't take much time. What did take time was using a rag to wash the paint off of their hands while trying to not get the paint on their clothes. By the time they were finished, the others were done, and Babette was taking inventory of all the supplies they used to give them a total.

She told Gretel the amount, and Gretel handed her the coins to cover the cost. Hansel helped her sisters place the lanterns gently in a box so they wouldn't get crushed or broken on the way home. Pierre placed six small candles in the box to go with the lanterns.

With the lanterns made and paid for, it was time to go home.

* * *

Home, or the Burg Family Bakery was a chaotic mess when they arrived back.

Gretchen and Becca were having an all out war over Becca's dress for the coronation ball. The material, pattern, and accessories Becca had her eye was out of the Burgs' price range, but Becca insisted Will expected her to be dressed like a princess. Gretchen had countered that if he expected her to wear such an outfit, he should be the one to pay for it. Gretel walked in the kitchen just as things were reaching their peak.

"Gretel, tell Mama that I have to be dressed appropriately for the ball!"

"Gretel, tell your sister wanting glass slippers and a poofy, sparkly dress is ridiculous."

Gretel looked from her sister to her mother, trying to figure out what was going. Glass slippers and a poofy dress? She didn't recall seeing anything like that at the dressmaker's shop. Glass slippers just seemed impractical, one could not dance very long in them for fear of breaking them and cutting their feet.

Having an inkling of what was going on, Gretel asked, "Becca, have you been listening to Will's stories again?"

"They're not Will's Stories, they're Jakob's," pointed out Becca. "He had just gotten a letter from Jakob the other day from some kingdom where the princess met her prince at a ball, and wore a magic dress and glass slippers. I didn't say I wanted glass slippers, I said I wanted to be dressed like a  _princess_."

"And I said we couldn't afford to dress you like a princess. A merchant's daughter, yes, but not a king's daughter," countered Gretchen.

Fully realizing what the argument was about, Gretel saw a very simple solution, and was a bit surprised her mother hadn't seen it either.

"Mama," said Gretel slyly," Becca says she wants to dress like a princess. There is one you can afford to dress her as..."

"Who?" asked Gretchen, who was exasperated and at her wit's end. She had other more important things to do than argue with her daughter over a dress.

"Why, Corona's very own princess. Princess Rapunzel has always dressed rather simply, and it will be her coronation ball. Perhaps Becca could have a dressed based on one of Rapunzel's?"

Gretchen tapped her chin thoughtfully, considering the idea, while Becca scrunched up her face in concentration.

"I suppose that could work," mused Becca.

"Good, it's settled then. You can take Tilly with you tomorrow and order a dress based on Princess Rapunzel's," said Gretchen, happy the argument was over at last. "Gretel, where are your sisters and Hansel? You just came back from Lumiere's, no?"

"Hansel had an errand to run, and everybody else ran upstairs to unpack their lanterns," explained Gretel.

"Alright, your father should be home soon. He had to go to a meeting for the Baker's Guild," responded Gretchen. Then, on a gentler note, she stepped closer to Gretel and kissed her on the forehead. "What would I do without you, my little Margaret?"

Gretel tried not to wince, her parents used her real name very rarely. She was named for her great-aunt Margaret, who had a rather bad habit of pinching Gretel's cheeks whenever she saw her. Knowing her mother was awaiting a reply, Gretel wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

"Am I interrupting something?" said a gruff voice.

Gretel turned her head and saw her father walking towards them, his arms outstretched intending to make a Gretel sandwich. Closely behind him were her sisters, and Becca reluctantly allowed their mother to pull her in as well. The family spent a few seconds huddled closely together. Gretel was the one who broke it up, squirming out of her's mother hug, mainly due to the fact she was having a difficult time breathing in the Gretel sandwich.

When it was over, the Burgs went their separate ways. Gretchen to take over for Maria, Rueben's sister (and mother of Paul) who had been helping out, in the front. Becca had pulled Tilly aside to talk about the trip to the dressmaker's the next day, Lisa went off to finish her latest book, and Cara and Mia went outside to play before supper. Before Gretel could go out to the front to join her mother, her father pulled her aside.

"Gretel," he said, "I have a favor to ask of you. We need some more Rapunzel, but I'm going to busy with the Guild for the rest of the week. Would you mind going by yourself?"

Gretel hesitated. She knew that she should go get the ingredient, but had never gone by herself, always insisting her father went with her. "Are you sure? Can't it wait?"

"No, I've been putting it off for a while, and at this rate we'll be out for the coronation. Wouldn't want that, eh? If you're so worried, why don't you ask Hansel to join you?"

* * *

Hansel had returned back the Burg bakery after his errand to find Gretel waiting for him. She told him that her father had cleared Hansel's schedule for the next day, and he was to accompany her... somewhere. Gretel didn't really say much, just that it'd be a day long trip and they'd be leaving early in the morning.

There used to be a time when Hansel could sleep in as late as he wanted. Not just because he was a prince, but because he was the thirteenth prince and as such didn't have many duties as his older siblings. He could stay up as late as he wanted partying it up and sleep in as late as he wanted because it wasn't as if he was expected anyway. Hansel could have stayed in bed all day and nobody would have said anything. Though, that probably had less to do with not not having duties and more to do with nobody caring.

That of course changed when he joined the Burgs. He got up at four in the morning each day, relieved himself, got dressed, ate a bagel or muffin left from the day before. When Teddy came along, he added feeding and looking after him to his morning routine.

Of course, three years of his new routine didn't mean that Hansel was a morning person. Gretel wasn't in a talkative mood when either when they set off in the morning. Actually, it was Teddy who was the most active and excited. He had been out and about the village plenty of times, but never over the bridge and into the woods. Along the way, Teddy would stop frequently, his nose to the ground sniffing at unfamiliar scents. As they left the village and entered the woods, he would chase various things- butterflies, leaves, bugs and try to catch them in his mouth.

Hansel had been over the bridge only once, and that was when he was entering Corona. He was starved, exhausted, and freezing at the time, so he didn't really remember much. Though he did know the scenery hadn't been as colorful as it currently was. He never knew so many shades of green existed. The grass was one shade of green, and the leaves on the trees were different shades of green. Then there were the flowers. On either side of the road they walked were a variety of flowers. Hansel could only recognize tulips, daffodils, and roses. Some he recognized as types he had bought for Gretel in the past, but didn't know their names.

He was so caught up taking the view in, he nearly missed when Gretel left the main road and started to go into the woods.

"Mind telling me where we're going?" he asked.

"To get the Rapunzel. It only grows in a certain part of the woods," Gretel answered.

"Rapunzel? What's that?"

"It's the secret ingredient for Burg bread," explained Gretel. "It never had a proper name, and since the day the princess was found was also a day when Papa and I returned with some, that's what he finally decided to call it, in honor of the princess."

As they ventured deeper and deeper into the woods, Hansel had noticed the colors were getting darker. Gone were the brilliant shades of green, and the rainbow of flowers. In fact, Hansel didn't see any flowers, just brown dirt and rotting logs. The trees here were more shades of brown and gray, and looked rather dreary, almost as if it was winter instead of summer.

Their surroundings weren't the only thing to have changed. Gretel seemed nervous, there was an edge to a voice that sounded as if all she wanted to do was run away. Teddy had stopped chasing whatever was flying in front of him, and was peering into their surroundings while on guard.

Gretel eventually and said softly, "We're here."

She knelt to the ground and opened one of the baskets they had brought with them. One was empty for the Rapunzel, the other carried their lunch. Gretel put on some gloves, and began to pick a small, dark green plant. Hansel put on some of his own, and joined her at picking the Rapunzel and putting it in the basket. Teddy watched several yards away. He wasn't fond of the Rapunzel, but wanted to stay within eyesight of the two.

After a few minutes, all the Rapunzel in the small clearing had been picked, except for a trail that led somewhere. Hansel started to follow it, but Gretel pulled him back. "Leave it," she said. "We have enough, and shouldn't pick it all."

Her voice wavered at the last bit, something she did very rarely. If Hansel hadn't been sure that there was something wrong before, he was now.

"Gretel, what's wrong?" he asked.

She looked away at the ground and blushed. "It's nothing," she said shaking her head, "You'd think it's silly."

Hansel lifted her chin so she would meet his gaze. "Let me be the judge of that. That 'nothing' has you spooked, why don't you tell me what it is?"

Gretel took a deep breath in and out, trying to calm herself. "It's just, there's stories about this part of the woods, about a witch... a witch who would eat children."

Hansel sensed there was more to the story and motioned for her to continue. "And what, you were nearly eaten?"

Groaning, Gretel turned away from him. "See, I told you, you'd think it was silly."

"There's nothing silly about nearly being eaten by a witch," said Hansel with a straight-face. There wasn't. Considering what he had experienced in Arendelle, witches eating children were no longer an impossibility.

"I was the one who found this clearing," she said quietly. "There was a voice, and I wandered off from Papa. He found me here, walking in the direction you started to go in. Can we leave now, please?" There was a pleading sound in her voice; Hansel couldn't remember ever hearing her be so desperate.

Hansel nodded. "Of course," he said, picking the baskets up as. "So you mentioned stories about a witch. What type of stories?"

A part of Hansel knew that asking about such a topic that had already upset Gretel was insensitive. At the same time, he was genuinely curious. It wasn't until experiencing magic first-hand in Arendelle did he even start to believe it could really exist. The only magic he had heard about since then was that story of Princess Rapunzel's magical golden hair, which was the reason why she was taken as a baby. If it hadn't been for experiencing magic first hand, and the earnest expressions the younger Burgs as they told about meeting the princess for the first time, Hansel wouldn't have believed it that a girl could go from having seventy feet of golden hair to being a brunette with short hair overnight. So if Corona had more stories about magic, he definitely wanted to hear them.

Gretel, Teddy, and Hansel retreated of the clearing quickly, while she answered Hansel. "That's right, you've probably never heard it since you weren't raised in Corona. If you want I could tell you the tale of the three sisters. Once we get out of here and stop for lunch."

As they rejoined the main road, Hansel noticed color returning back to Gretel's face and to the world around them. She no longer looked so nervous, and was acting more like her regular self. Teddy had returned to his normal playful self, chasing after a squirrel nearby.

Hansel waited till they were far away from the clearing, and saw a meadow of tulips off to the side. "Want to stop here for lunch and a story?"

Gretel didn't even have to answer, her eyes did it for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be more about Hansel and Gretel together gathering the Rapunzel, but Lumiere's took up more than I thought it would. Rapunzel is thought to actually be a plant known as corn salad or lamb's lettuce, but given this is a Disney fic I've taken a few liberties.
> 
> Since everybody seems to be enjoying the Disney references, I'll keep trying to include them in the story. For those who are curious, Le Maître Chat, is a reference to Puss in Boots, also known as The Master Cat, at least according to Wiki. There was a time when I toyed with the idea of incorporating Teddy as Puss in Boots before realizing I already had enough story lines going on.
> 
> Expect a lot of Disney references next chapter, called 'The Tale of the Three Sisters'. It's a chapter I've been looking forward to for a long time and explains the origins of Elsa's powers and the origins of Gothel's relationship with the flower. There's also a slight cameo from a familiar Disney villain.


	7. The Tale of the Three Sisters

There were once were three sisters who lived in a far away kingdom. Their parents died, leaving them penniless and so they set out to find their fortune. After several days traveling on the road, they came across a beggar. She was tall and thin, like a scarecrow, but that was the only thing the sisters could make out about her. She wore long black gloves, and a large cloak concealing her face.

Despite carrying a large heavy sack, she approached them from the road and asked for some food. The two eldest sisters refused, citing they barely had enough food for themselves. The youngest sister gave the beggar some of her food, though she didn't have much. Seeing their sister's selfless act, the others sisters managed to scrounge up some food to spare as well.

The beggar traveled with the sisters, until they stopped to make camp for the night. Huddled around the campfire, the eldest sister asked the beggar what was in the sack. The beggar told them it contained something very rare, very precious, and very magical and she could say no more. The sisters pestered the beggar, but she would not give in. Eventually the fire died down, and it was time for them to go to sleep.

The eldest said she would stay awake and be on the looking for any ruffians or thugs who happened upon the group and wished to take advantage of the young women. She waited until the others were asleep and coaxed the sack out from under the sleeping beggar's hand. Looking inside, she found a an old piece of rolled up parchment. Gently she unrolled it, and gasped softly. On the paper was a glowing picture of a flower. The light the page emitted was just enough to read the text beneath the picture. According to which, the flower had special healing powers and could keep a person young, forever. There were two ways to access the flower's powers- to consume it, which would mean to use it only once, or to sing a special song giving the singer unlimited uses.

The sister was quite a bit older than her siblings, and would have been married long ago if she didn't have her two sisters to raise. Their mother had died young, and their father worked long hours in the fields while his eldest looked after her younger sisters. She loved them, but she was starting to grow old. No man would want her with her wrinkles and grey in her hair. The flower was her chance to be young and desirable forever.

She scanned the text for some clue as to the location of the flower, and was surprised to learn it wasn't very far away, just up a nearby cliff. The sister had grown up on tales of fairies and magic, but had never encountered it before. Given the magically glowing page before her, the flower just had to be real. She had a couple hours before her middle sister woke up to take over for the rest of the night, plenty of time find the flower and to see if the song worked.

The cliff was rocky and scraggly, but she managed to climb up it just fine. The glow from the page gave her the light to find the flower. She sang the song that was written on the parchment, and the flower started to glow. Its power flowed through her and she felt younger and stronger than she had in years. The sister knew that she would want to use the flower again and again, so taking it with her wasn't an option. Her only choice was to stay somewhere close to the flower.

Satisfied with her decision, she made her way back to her sleeping sisters and the strange beggar. She thought about waking them and telling them about her discovery, but what if the flower wouldn't work on more than one person at a time? What if her sisters got greedy and ate it, never letting her experience its healing powers again? Or what if they told others, others who would take it for themselves?

No, she had to keep the flower a secret, she had to protect it. Her sisters were still young and attractive enough to find themselves husbands, they didn't need the flower. They didn't need her looking out for them anymore either. It was time for them to grow up. The sister threw the parchment into the smoldering fire and watched it burn up. She had the song memorized, and if the beggar really knew what she had, she wouldn't be ashamed of hiding her face or hands. The flower could make anymore beautiful and heal all wounds. Why would one to cover themselves if they were free from age and disease?

She woke her middle sister for the next watch, and settled down to get a few hours of sleep despite her pounding heart, excited by her discovery.

The middle sister was just as curious as her older one, and sneaked a peek into the sack. Unlike her sister, when she reached in she pulled out a book. A book which contained instructions for spells and potions. They all looked rather complicated and involved complex ingredients. Newts eye, dragon heartstring, pixie wings. The ingredients made her shiver, but there was one spell that got her attention and she wouldn't mind getting her hands messy for.

Her sister feared age, and she feared death. She had watched their mother die giving birth to the youngest. She had watched their father die when one of the horses had gotten spooked and trampled him. Death was messy and disgusting. When it was over, one was nothing but a hunk of meat. She didn't want be a hunk of meat at the end, she never wanted to die. That was something the book offered, a way to avoid death forever. According to the book she'd still be susceptible to aging, but as long as she followed through with the spell every few years she could avoid death forever.

The spell called for a few grisly ingredients, namely the body of a young child or adult with plenty of meat on their bones and life in their bodies. Her sisters would blanch at the the thought of murder, but it was she who gotten her hands dirty on the farm killing chickens and other animals for dinner. It was she who dealt with the bodies and cooked their remains into a fine meal. Her sisters hadn't seen death like she had and just wouldn't understand.

The beggar didn't need the book, not like she did. The sister placed rocks in the bag to make up for the missing weight of the book. She planned to leave first thing in the morning, she would need to find someplace remote to pull off the spell without suspicion. Some place where she could have a large oven to cook the young bodies. Hiding the book among her few possessions she waited for her sisters and the beggar to wake up. The sooner they did so, the sooner she could start her new life.

When morning came, the youngest sister knew something was amiss. Her older sisters were never fond of mornings, yet this one they were the first ones awake. Her oldest seemed to look different, younger in fact. When she asked about it, her older sister told her to stop being so silly, she was just imagining things. Her middle sister was too self-absorbed with her bag to notice or care. The beggar was silent on the matter.

So they went off, and eventually came to a fork in the road. Her older sisters said they were going to part ways and wished her the best of luck, each taking a different path away from her and leaving her alone with the beggar.

The beggar turned to her and said, "I'm afraid I must part ways with you as well. Before I go, I shall give you a gift from my bag in return for your generosity. Your sisters were rewarded last night while you were sleeping, that is why they were so eager to leave this morning."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a mirror, handing it to the youngest sister. It had a wooden frame which had figures carved along it, and the mirror's surface was cool to the touch. Before the youngest could say anything, the beggar disappeared in a puff of green smoke, leaving no doubt in the girl's mind she had been secretly an enchantress or fairy all along. The sister looked down at the mirror in her hand. She'd much rather have the beggar for company than a silly mirror.

While her older sisters were afraid of age and death, the youngest was afraid of being alone. She didn't know her mother, and barely knew her father since he was always working. Her sisters were her whole world, but she knew they wanted to leave and have their own lives. She just didn't know it was going to be so soon.

Her reflection seemed to mock her in the glass, showing just herself all alone. All alone and by herself in the world. A single tear dropped onto the glass and the sister threw the mirror as hard as she could against a nearby tree. The mirror shattered into hundreds of pieces everywhere. One shard managed to pierce her eye.

The sister knew she should have been dead, but she wasn't. She just felt cold inside. It occurred to her that because the mirror belonged to an enchantress or a fairy, it was possibly enchanted as well. She was proven correct when the shards on the ground turned into sharp icicles on what was a spring day. Her hands started to create ice without any guidance from her.

She fled north, north into the mountains and caves as it became clear she had no control over her new ice and snow powers. For a brief time she tried to find the enchantress for help, but had no luck. All she left was devastation and cold in her wake.

Once she had been so afraid of being alone. Now she was more afraid of the harm she could do to others, and being alone was the only way she could protect people from her.

One winter's day when she was out hunting for food she found something else instead. A young man all alone in the woods. He was dressed rather well, so a noble of some sort. Looking at the tracks around him she realized he had been thrown from his horse. She could feel a chill to the air, that a storm was coming and knew the strange man wouldn't be able to survive the storm. Fearing to touch him with her bare hands she pulled off his gloves and used them as a layer of protection.

It took a while, but she eventually succeeded in dragging him back to her cave where he could recover and survive the storm that had started to rage outside. When he awoke, she explained that she had found him. He was rather insistent on returning home, but after taking one step outside into the storm which had turned into a blizzard, he stayed.

Over the next few days the blizzard howled outside and they grew closer. She learned that he was a prince and he offered to take her back to his kingdom. As much as she wanted to be with him, she knew she couldn't. If she hurt him accidentally, she didn't know how she could live with that knowledge. When the blizzard was over, he left.

He didn't forget her though. He made sure she had supplies and food to survive on. He'd leave her letters and notes in the woods for her to find, and he would visit her in his free time. He had even let her keep the gloves. She welcomed the visits and was grateful for everything, but she still refused to leave with him.

Winter turned into spring, followed by summer. As the seasons changed, his visits got fewer and fewer. A great drought had struck the land, and he was doing his best to help his people as much as possible. At first she thought he had stopped caring and had given up on her. Then she saw the yellow grass, sickly trees, and thin animals and realized what was happening. With her powers, she never had to worry about running out of water. But seeing the land around her dry and dying caused her to be concerned. If this was happening here, what was life like in his kingdom?

Gathering her courage, she ventured out of her cave and toward his kingdom. He had described the journey numerous times and had even left her a map if she ever decided to leave. Along the way she saw the conditions of the fields. If there wasn't rain soon the crops would wither and die. There would be no food for the winter and people would starve- if they didn't die of thirst first. All the creeks, rivers, and lakes which were usually full of water were almost dried up.

The palace where the prince lived was on an island, connected by a bridge to the mainland. The water was so low, she doubted a bridge was necessary. When she found the prince he was so tired looking, but seemed to cheer up by her mere presence. There was gray in his hair, and he looked so much older than when she had last seen him. He explained the stress he was under, and how he didn't know how the kingdom could survive much longer.

While the sister knew her powers could hurt her love, she knew he would be hurt even worse if she didn't use them. She took off her gloves, and let her powers go to work. She created snow that fell onto the fields. Large blocks of ice that melted in the heat and restored the water that had been lost. He was by her side all the while, never once showing a hint of fear of her powers. The more she loved him, the more the fear melted inside her, and the more control she gained of her powers.

By fall, the drought was over. The crops, while not as good in years past, was enough to get the people through the winter. The prince and his kingdom were grateful to the youngest sister for saving them all.

The prince and the youngest sister married and lived happily ever after. With him by her side, she'd never be alone again.

* * *

When Gretel was done with the story, Hansel took a few minutes to think it over. It sounded like a typical fairy tale. Once upon a time, girl meets boy with magic mixed in, and they live happily ever after blah blah blah.

Yet, it wasn't a typical fairy tale. The story about the glowing flower that could heal was one that he, and everybody in Corona knew. It was the reason their princess went missing for so many years after the queen had eaten it as a last resort to heal herself. Nobody knew much about the Gothel person who had taken her, but given the eldest sister's role in the story and her fear of aging, Hansel didn't have a hard time believing it was her. You would have to have a serious fear of something to go as far as kidnapping a princess, a crime punishable by death.

Then there was the youngest sister part, with the ice powers. That definitely sounded familiar. If the story was true, it would certainly have explained events in Arendelle three years ago. As far as he knew, nobody had really offered up an explanation for Elsa's magic, just that she had it ever since she was born and had spent most of her life hiding it. Of course, it wasn't like she had spent much time with him talking about her powers. The majority of his information pertaining to the Snow Queen had been picked up by eavesdropping on the guards on his way back to the Southern Isles for his judgement, or from Will and Jakob whenever they felt like showing off their knowledge and connections. Sometimes they weren't always the most reliable of sources.

"Gretel," asked Hansel, "the middle sister, is she the witch in the woods?"

Gretel, who had been sneaking pieces of her ham and cheese sandwich to Teddy, looked up. Teddy was quite distressed at the development and started to paw at her hand in an attempt to free the small piece trapped in her grasp. Gretel didn't pay him any heed, instead she frowned, not sure of what she was going to say next.

"The part of the woods we were in, most people avoid. They say that's where the middle sister built her house and lures travelers on the road to, never to be seen again. For the longest time it was just stories, but when the lost princess was found and the story of the oldest sister turned out to be true..."

Her voice trailed off, but Hansel managed to figure out the rest of the sentence. "The witch in the woods seemed a lot more real."

Gretel nodded. "I suppose that's why my father never took my younger sisters into the woods to get the Rapunzel, and probably why he suggested you coming with me today."

There was a somber look on Gretel's face, which caused an uneasiness in Hansel's stomach. He found that he didn't like it when she was scared or upset. First in the woods earlier today, and now, talking about the witch in the woods. He had never felt like this before, and felt like it was his duty to return a smile to her face.

An idea came to him, and he grabbed the bit of sandwich out of her hand that Teddy had been pawing at. Hansel threw it as far as he could, and Teddy ran after it so enthusiastically he overshot the landing site and rolled into a creek. Teddy emerged from the river and shook himself off, causing water to go everywhere and his fur to stick out in all directions. The scene caused Gretel to giggle, but Teddy ignored her since he had finally found the sandwich bit Hansel had thrown. He brought it back to the two, who were seated on a picnic blanket, triumphantly. He curled into a ball away from the two to eat it, lest Hansel or Gretel get any ideas about taking it away from him.

Gretel continued to laugh at Teddy, and Hansel joined in. He was glad he had managed to banish all thoughts of the witch from her mind. For a while at least.

* * *

While Hansel was correct in assuming there was some truth to the story, there were some details he didn't know. That wasn't his fault, for Gretel and none of the Coronians knew them either.

What he didn't know was that the beggar had been watching the sisters for a while before deciding to approach them. She wasn't actually a beggar, as the younger sister correctly suspected. She was actually a powerful fairy. A fairy who had spent her earlier years being ostracized for looking different from her peers, called evil and a monster. It wasn't her fault her early spells had a tendency to go awry. By the time she had her magic under control, it was too late and the damage had been done. Mainly thanks to three certain sister fairies.

What Hansel didn't know, was because she had been isolated for so long, she had eventually decided to give in and become the monster others had always assumed her to be. She took pleasure in causing others misery, and bringing out their own wickedness. By causing others pain, she could forget her own. Until she was too numb to it, and only knew the thrill of causing havoc and chaos everywhere.

What Hansel didn't know, was that the three sisters reminded her of specific trio of fairies, and had set out to close them in a trap. If they refused her food, she could reveal herself in curse them. If they did help her, she could take advantage of their greed, causing them to take certain items that would fulfill their own selfish desires and cause their own demises, she hadn't figured out that love would help the youngest sister control her powers, but that wasn't the original purpose of the mirror. The mirror was supposed to bring out a person's inner coldness, have them see only the worst in people.

What Hansel didn't know, was the three fairy sisters the evil fairy loathed found out about the tale and the youngest sister's happy ending due to the power of love. They spread the tale far and wide, though it continued being told in Corona far longer than anywhere else- for that was where the youngest sister ended up as queen. While it had been nearly forgotten, the discovery of the eldest sister and her role in the lost princess's disappearance caused many of the younger generations begging their elders for the tale.

What Hansel didn't know, was that Elsa truly was descended from the youngest sister- on both sides of her family. The children of the youngest sister had been carriers of the ice trait, and if two carriers had a child, there was a slight chance the child would have the ice powers. After many generations, Elsa's and Anna's parents were distant cousins who had married, as royalty does. It just so happened their first child inherited her ancestor's powers.

What Hansel didn't know, was that due to a green-skinned fairy's antics at christenings and on strangers, Arendelle and the surrounding lands had a slight fear of magic and sorcery. When it became apparent to the King and Queen that their eldest daughter, and the heir apparent, had magic, they did their best to hide it from their subjects. The fewer who knew the better- the less who knew the less likely she would be shunned by society and her subjects. Then there was the incident with their youngest, and the need to control the magic became the priority. The king had grown up hearing the story of the three sisters from his grandmother, but couldn't remember the details. Just a small part about gloves preventing the sister from injuring the prince.

What Hansel didn't know, was that he, Gretel, and Teddy had been watched from afar from all day. The figure hadn't eaten a proper meal in years, due to increased precautions of travelers and parents. There used to be a time when she could lure a weary traveler off the roadway, or a bored child away from its parents without anybody noticing. In recent years, people had begun to remember the tales their grandparents had told them, and approached the woods with more caution. They avoided her house made of delicious gingerbread and other sweets, while surrounded by the flower Rapunzel to keep the animals away. She still had a few more weeks before she needed a nice succulent piece of youth to sustain her and keep death at bay for a few more years. With the coronation a month away, she could wait though.

What Hansel didn't know, was that the witch was pretty confident that those who had escaped her oven once she set eyes on them always came back to her in the end.

Always.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the halfway point for the story and I've been waiting to write it for a while. Not just to explain how Elsa got her powers, but to explain why her parents weren't that freaked out by the fact their daughter had been born with magic while everybody at the ball was. It seemed to me the king wasn't that surprised Elsa was born with powers, he and the queen never questioned the trolls about her magic, and Elsa never seemed to question its origins either. Yet, at the ball, the Duke of Weselton and others seemed scandalized by Elsa's display. My best guess was there had been tales about magic in the family, but it hadn't shown up for a very long time. Meanwhile, too many people over the years had faced the wrath of Maleficent or other magic wielders, and had become afraid of it.
> 
> As for the story itself, by including the mirror, I was able to pay homage to the Snow Queen, the fairy tale Frozen is based on. In the original version, a devil and his minions get their hands on a magic mirror that has the power to distort everything reflected in it. A person's good traits fail to show up, while their evil aspects appear worse than they really are. The mirror shatters into splinters- one get into the eye and heart of Kai, who Anna is somewhat based on. The splinter alters his personality making him cruel and aggressive. Eventually the Snow Queen takes him, and it's up to Gerda to save him with the only power she has- love.
> 
> In my story, the mirror was supposed to serve a similar purpose- to show the youngest sister how alone she is and how horrible others are. Maleficent's intention was that the youngest would grow cold and cruel, causing others to distance themselves from her. Instead, the mirror is broken, causing a shard to pierce the youngest sister's body, and causing her to absorb the cold powers from the mirror and have them manifest in a physical manner. Only love allows her, and later Elsa, to control them.
> 
> While I realize this might be 'out there', this is Disney and a single drop from the sun can fall to earth and create a magical healing flower.
> 
> I drew a on folklore and mythology to get a fairy tale feel for the chapter including classic fairy tale tropes. One was the 'Rule of Three'. It's common to see in stories today and fairy tales. The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the original Cinderella the ball lasted for three nights. In the original Snow White, the evil queen attempted to kill her three times. Disney has even done this. How many fairies were in Sleeping Beauty? Three. How many days did Ariel have in order to get Eric to kiss her with a kiss of true love? Three. How many wishes did Aladdin get? Three. The fact that three is a magic number and allowed me to tie together the origins of Elsa's powers, Mother Gothel, and the witch from my story was a bonus.
> 
> Another common trope in fairy tales is 'Youngest Child Wins'. Basically, if there are multiple siblings in a fairy tale, the youngest is the hero while the older ones are evil/boring. Cinderella had two older and wicked step-sisters. In the original Beauty and the Beast, Beauty was the youngest of three sisters, her older two sisters were shown to be greedy and shallow. Once again, this can be seen in Disney films, though not as much as the 'Rule of Three'. Ariel was the youngest of seven and The Little Mermaid was based around her. So who managed to come out the best despite Maleficent's intent to harm the sisters? The youngest.
> 
> Finally there's the 'Be Careful What You Wished For' trope. The fairy tropes that fit this trope aren't as widely known as the others, so I won't mention them, though it does show up in some well-known Disney movies. It can be seen in Aladdin, Princess in the Frog, Brave, Wreck-it-Ralph. Therefore, Gothel's fear of aging gave her a magical flower which she became so dependent on she resorted to kidnapping a princess, and dissolving into dust once the power was gone for good. The middle sister's fear of death, made her long lived, but turned her into a cannibal.
> 
> Trope names are courtesy of TvTropes.com. 
> 
> I wanted to include Maleficient in this chapter because crewing with people by offering them a gift only to have it backfire on them is something she'd do for pure enjoyment. It also allowed me to explore a little of her background, including her relationship with the three fairies from Sleeping Beauty who raised Aurora/Briar Rose- Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather.
> 
> Next chapter is called, 'At Last I See the Light'. It's coronation day and Hansel has some rather important plans involving Gretel. Just as it seems like everything's going perfectly, he encounters a few hiccups.


	8. At Last I See the Light

The summer solstice had arrived, and the entire Burg household was in an uproar. The shop was packed with customers buying all the cupcakes, cookies, pretzels, and Burg bread the Burgs could make and the kitchen was was packed with extra relatives trying to keep up with the demand.

The coronation was set for noon and would take place inside the palace. It was to be a somber affair, full of pomp and tradition, accessible by invitation only. Afterwards, the newly crowned king and queen would walk out onto the balcony to greet their subjects, before retiring to their rooms to rest for the night's festivities. The royal ball would be going on inside the palace walls later, while the villagers would be celebrating outside. Then, after the sun had set, the new monarchs would start the lantern ceremony.

Gretel had been awake since dawn and was busy decorating cupcakes with the Corona sun insignia in yellow frosting when her mother walked into the kitchen.

"Gretel, that's enough for now. Why don't you go upstairs and help Becca get dressed?"

A groan escaped Gretel's mouth. Will hadn't been invited to the coronation only to the ball. Therefore Becca was taking as much time as possible to look her best. Gretel had more important things to do than spend an hour helping Becca decide if a strand of her hair should be up or down.

"Mama, I'm busy with the cupcakes. I'm sure she can handle it without me," responded Gretel, as civilly as she could. If she had to hear Becca talk about which ribbons to put in her hair one more time...

"No, no," said Gretchen, shooing Gretel away from the cupcakes on the table. "We have enough, go upstairs."

"Mama," protested Gretel, but Gretchen put her fingers on Gretel's lips.

"Upstairs Magaret."

Gretel knew better than to argue with her mother when she used  _that_  tone of voice. "Yes, Mama," she said reluctantly and made her way up the back staircase in the kitchen, taking as much time as she could. Her mother said she had to go upstairs, not that she had to hurry upstairs. Maybe if she was slow enough, Becca would be done and Gretel could go back to the kitchen.

At the top of the stairs was an unexpected sight. There stood Becca, in her coronation gown. It was a rather simple design, inspired by the newly crowned queen, but was elegant at the same time. The skirt was a light purple, while the top was a light pink with purple sleeves and purple trim. Her hair was braided around in a crown on top of her head. There was a small golden sun on a chain on her neck.

Becca looked absolutely perfect. And Gretel had absolutely no idea why she was needed if Becca was already ready.

In answer to her question, Becca stepped aside, revealing Lisa and Tilly holding up a pale yellow dress. Cara and Mia stood on either side, holding their hands up toward the dress as if they were displaying it. The dress was too tall for them, and Becca already hers, which could only mean...

"Do you like it?" asked Becca, with a slight smirk on her face. It wasn't everyday she could pull one over on her older sister, so she was rather proud of the moment.

Gretel looked from Becca to her other sisters with a dazed expression on her face. "What...?"

A hand on her shoulder caused to jump slightly, but she relaxed once she saw it was her mother. "Well, there was some money leftover and Becca suggested perhaps getting you a new dress as well."

"Yeah, and Tilly even got to embroider some of it," said Mia excitedly.

Tilly blushed due to the attention. So far, all she had ever embroidered were small things like handkerchiefs, towels, or pillows. It was her first time doing a dress, and even the dressmaker had complimented her on it.

Gretel nodded, unable to speak. She walked over and fingered the dress. It was simple with its unadorned top and long sleeves, though it did have a slight V-neck. At the bottom of the skirt Gretel could make out a repeating design of flowers and leaves, no doubt Tilly's handiwork. Suddenly she felt guilty for thinking the worst of Becca. Sure, she could be annoying at times, but she had her moments where she shined- like now.

She turned away from the dress and hugged Becca. "It's perfect." Then, she embraced her other sisters saving Tilly for last. "So's your work."

Tilly gave her a small smile in return. Their mother, Gretchen cleared her throat. "As lovely as it is seeing all my girls getting along, we only have a short time to get Gretel ready before Hansel returns from his errand and takes Gretel to the dance."

* * *

Hansel had managed to quietly duck out of the Burg Bakery while it was slow. Slow being relative to how heavy the customer volume was the rest of the day. He had big plans for tonight and had needed to make a last minute errand to ensure they would go off successfully, and without any bumps. Gretchen had nodded at him while he made his way out, well aware of where he was off to.

His errand was accomplished and he was on his way back to the bakery. There was a slight skip to his step, and he was actually whistling. He couldn't remember the last time he had the urge to whistle, or sing even. Hansel felt like he was king of the world, that there was nothing standing in his way. He had truly never been happier with his life.

When Gretel showed him the Rapunzel plant, it had shown him just how much she, and the Burgs trusted and cared about him. Granted, there had been a part of him that saw gold coins when he saw the plant and wondered how much he could make off of it, if it would be enough to stick his brothers' and father's noses in it. But it was a small part of him. He had come to terms that there would always be a small piece of his old self inside him. Hans, Prince of the Southern Isles, always looking for a way to get a leg up over his brothers or his father's attention. What mattered though, was the piece of Hansel inside him. The piece that had been nurtured by the Burgs, taking him from Josef bread to Burg bread. That side had reminded him to focus on how much they trusted him instead of how much he could get for the plant.

Teddy was trotting along happily by Hansel's side. Earlier that morning, Cara and Mia had given him a bath and tied a purple and yellow ribbon around his neck. Since he was looking his best, Teddy was showing off to all those who glanced his way. Hansel could hear him purring, as if he was saying, 'Why yes, I know what a handsome creature I am, thank you for noticing'.

Hansel was looking his best as well, dressed in one of Reuben's old suits that Gretchen and Tilly had adjusted to fit Hansel. He had trimmed his beard quite a bit; not so much that it was gone completely, but enough that he no longer looked like a caveman.

Everything was perfect. Right up until the moment he bumped into a very familiar person- his brother, Marten. Marten had been exiting one of the finer bookstores in Corona, only to step right out in front of Hansel.

The two brothers stood completely still, taking each other in. Hansel gulped nervously. There was no mistake of the identity of the man before him. The question was, whether or not he recognized Hansel. The two had never been close, and it had been over three years since they last saw each other, actually closer to four. His sideburns were gone, and he was now sporting a small beard. The odds of him recognizing Hansel had to be small, right?

Marten blinked several times before saying, "Hello Hans."

Or not. Of course, out of all the ambassadors and royal guests in Corona he had to bump into one of the few who could actually recognize him.

"Hello Marten," Hansel replied quietly as he gritted his teeth. He did not want to be there at the moment; he had Gretel to get back to and big plans for that night. He did not need Marten to muck it all up.

Hansel shoved past him, determined to go on his way and act as nothing was wrong. Marten had other ideas. He grabbed Hansel's hand. "Wait."

Reluctantly, Hansel turned around and gave Marten a hard look. "What?" he spat at him. Hansel really didn't have much to say to his brother, as far as he was concerned that part of his life was over. His brother's presence was doing nothing but bringing his old self to the surface ready to pummel Marten to the ground.

Marten shifted his weight from one foot to another nervously. "It's just... nice to to see you is all. We never heard from you and had assumed that you, well..."

"Died?" Finished Hansel. "I'm sure father will be so disappointed to learn otherwise," he responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Marten bristled at his tone, and his face took on a somber look. "Our father died a month ago. I received word before setting off for the coronation."

Okay, Hansel had not known that bit of information. Apparently Jakob had been too busy gossiping about the upcoming coronation to Becca that it never occurred to him to mention the passing of the Southern Isles' king.

Then again, nobody in town had mentioned it either. The Southern Isles weren't that close to Corona, nothing more than a distant trading partner and ally. Perhaps if the country hadn't spent the past several months obsessed with the coronation, the news might have reached his ears.

Now that he did know, Hansel wasn't sure how he felt about his father's death. He supposed the typical reaction was one of sadness, remorse. Instead, Hansel felt hollow, unaffected. The news of his father's death felt no more different than the news of another foreign leader such as the king of Agrabah or Maldonia. Others might think it was sad that he couldn't shed a single tear for his father, but they hadn't known the man. They hadn't been ignored for the majority of their life, only to receive the smallest bit of acknowledgment when they were getting banished.

Hansel couldn't manage one tear for the king of the Southern Isles. Yet he knew that if Reuben Burg had died, he would be bawling like a baby. What exactly did that say about him? That he cared more for a man he had only known for a few years than he did for his own flesh and blood?

If Marten was expecting condolences from Hansel, he wasn't going to get them. Hansel could care less if his father was dead, and was secretly hoping it had be a painful and lingering death and the bastard suffered. Hansel didn't say that out loud. He needed to keep his temper and his old self in check and exploding at his brother was not the best way of doing so. That was something Hans would do, not Hansel.

_Be Burg bread,_  he reminded himself.  _Be Burg bread, not Josef bread._

Once again, Hansel made a move to leave, and once again, Marten stopped him.

"I was serious when I said I'm glad to see that you're well. So what are you doing now?"

Really, Marten was going to make him stay and do small talk? Like they were friends and buddies? Like he had never belittled Hansel or wasn't happy when Hansel had messed up terribly in his diplomatic mission to Arendelle?

"I work, that's what people do when they don't have lands or titles to live off," he responded coarsely. Being Burg bread demanded that he reply to his brother civilly instead of punch him in the face. Being Burg bread did not demand that he tell Marten everything he'd been up to in the past three years.

"Ah," said Marten, acting as if it wasn't the most obvious thing in the world. What did he think Hansel did, lounge about doing nothing? Did he forget the part where Hansel was banished, without a coin to his name?

"And what exactly is your job?" asked Marten.

Hansel's patience was waning. He had to return to the bakery soon to pick up Gretel for the village dance and celebration. He also had to get to the paper lanterns before she did. Hansel did not have time to stop and chit-chat with one of his brothers of all people.

"I'm a baker," he sighed.

Marten opened his mouth to say more, but that was the moment when Teddy had decided to come to Hansel's defense. he had known something was amiss due to Hansel's body language towards the strange man. Normally Teddy wasn't a violent cat, but he did have a strong protective instinct when it came to protecting his family and those he cared about. Clearly the stranger was irritating his human, and Teddy planned to stop it. Teddy brought out his claws, managed a growl, and swiped at the stranger's legs cutting his pants to ribbons instantly.

Marten hissed in pain, and seemed surprised by the identity of his assailant. Teddy had returned to looking like the picture of innocence, and Hansel didn't even try to hide the smirk on his face.

"Well, as you can tell it's past Teddy's lunch time and he's not happy with the person who's keeping him from his food. If you'll excuse us, we have places to be, things to do, people to see."

Then, without saying another word Hansel took off with Teddy at his feet. This time Marten didn't even bother to stop him. Hansel didn't spare a look back at his brother, but Teddy did look back and let out a smug huff at the state of Marten's pants.

Overall, Hansel was proud of his behavior. While he may have acted standoffish and smug, it was warranted and the encounter could have been worse. It was probably one of the few times he had actually managed to get the last word over his brothers.

It was also the first time he realized he truly no longer needed his brothers' or father's approval or love. He had been telling himself that for the past three years but had never gotten a chance to prove it to himself. And now that he had, he felt... awesome.

He was officially Burg bread.

* * *

The sun was setting, and Gretel couldn't remember the last time she had danced so much. She and the other villagers celebrated together, dancing the night away outside of the palace walls. Becca could keep her fancy invitation, Gretel much preferring dancing on the brick street than in some fancy ballroom.

Hansel seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as she did, even dancing with some of her aunts and younger sisters. When the latest round finished, Gretel felt a small tug on her hand. It was Mia, who seemed rather intent on leading Gretel away from the crowd, and toward... somewhere. She refused to tell Gretel anything, leaving Gretel to wonder what exactly her youngest sister was up to. They were supposed to be lighting the lanterns soon, and Gretel didn't want to miss it. Then again, she would have no choice but to miss it because she wasn't quite sure where her lantern even was. The last time she had seen it, Lisa and Cara had all the lanterns together in a box.

When Mia finally stopped, Gretel recognized where she was, and was rather confused. "Mia, what are we doing outside the bakery?"

"You're here because I asked Mia to bring you here." Hansel said from behind her, causing Gretel to become even more confused. He had vanished from the dance earlier and now was in front of the bakery, and wanted her to be there as well? They were away from everybody else; in fact the three of them were currently the only ones on the street.

"Hansel, what's-"

The words caught in her mouth as Hansel brought out his hands from behind his back, revealing his lantern which was currently lit and ready to fly. Hanging from the bottom was a chain with a ring on it. Painted on the lantern were the words:  _Will you marry me?_

Hansel cleared his throat. "This is where I first met you. This is where I started a new part of my life, and now I want it to be where I start it with you as my wife."

His heart seemed to be thudding so loud he could hear it in his ears. Gretel seemed to be processing his proposal, and as he did so he realized he had never been so nervous before in his life.

Certainly not when he had proposed to Anna. He had gone to Arendelle with the intent to propose to one of the sisters. He preferred the queen, but was willing to marry the second in line for the throne. Anna had been so easy, so eager to escape her loneliness she was willing to marry the first guy who asked. He certainly had not been this nervous when his father sentenced him. At the time, he really hadn't care what happened to him, he was so angry.

But now, he was. Gretel and her family saved his life. Not just by taking him in from the cold, but teaching him how to be a better person. If he had continued down his previous path he would have ended up like Josef in jail, or dead. He owed Gretel so much.

And if she said no, he wasn't sure what he would do. It'd be awkward with her after, but awkward at the bakery as well. A few months ago, a little before the Rapunzel incident, he had asked Reuben and Gretchen for their permission. Reuben had pulled him into a great big hug saying it was about time for him to join the family officially. Gretchen seemed equally happy, going on about planning the wedding.

He had been saving up for the ring a while and it was custom-made. A small gold ring with a purple rose and green leaves on top. The jeweler had taken his time crafting it, so long that Hansel wasn't even able to pick it up until that day.

To top off his proposal he had Mia hide his lantern from Gretel and be the one who led her to the bakery. She always did like feeling important, and she was definitely important on today of all days. He knew she had been feeling a bit left out with Becca at the ball, Gretel being surprised with a new dress that Tilly designed, and Cara badgering Lisa about the mechanics of a flying balloon.

Gretel took the ring in her hands gazing at it. The light from the candle in the lantern made her auburn hair look as if it was on fire, an effect enhanced by her yellow dress. If he didn't know any better, she could have been an actual lantern about to fly out of his reach.

Teddy, who was next to him, seemed aware of the serious scene which was unfolding before him. Instead of pawing for attention or leaving to chase some random object, he sat silently at Hansel's feet, looking up at the people he cared about most. Something big was about to happen and he knew it.

Gretel slipped the ring off of the chain and put it on her finger. She beamed up at her and said, "Yes, of course I will!"

Mia clapped and cheered while Hansel let go of the lantern in his hand. Without it, he was able to embrace Gretel and kiss her.

He was ecstatic. If he couldn't remember ever being more nervous before, he now couldn't remember being happier. She had said yes. So what if he ran into his brother earlier and wanted to punch him in the face? So what if he had released his lantern a little earlier than he was supposed to?

Gretel had said  _yes-_ which was all that mattered.

"Come on," said Mia grabbing both of their hands. "Let's go tell the others!"

* * *

When they reached the rest of the Burgs, sans Becca, of course, Gretchen ran forward and embraced her daughter after catching the ring adorning Gretel's finger. Her father clapped Hansel on the back and congratulated him, while the rest of Gretel's family and the villagers gathered around to congratulate the newly engaged couple.

"So this is why you bought me the dress," said Gretel to her mother. "And this is why you were okay with him going with me last month," she said, this time to her father.

Both of her parents shrugged in response. "He came to us, and what were we supposed to do, tell him no?" asked Gretchen.

Reuben nodded in agreement with his wife. "Any fool could see that you two belong together. You make each other better; softer on the inside." When his wife raised an eyebrow at the reference to one of her favorite sayings, he threw his hands up into the air. "What, I do listen to you occasionally."

Mia, Cara, Tilly, Gretel, and Hansel all smothered giggles and snickers that were threatening to escape. Lisa stepped forward and Gretel saw that she had Gretel's lantern and held it out to her.

"I know that most of the lanterns are gone now, but you could still release yours if you want."

Gretel took it from her hands gratefully. She turned to Hansel and asked, "Care to help me?"

Hansel nodded and put his hands on the left side of the lantern while Gretel put her hands on the right side. They locked eyes with each other, and then released the lantern at the same time into the air. Hansel and Gretel watched it float out of sight as it joined the many others floating in the sky, tiny stars moving across the black night.

Gretel pulled his hand into hers, before pulling him in for one more kiss, which was greeted with cheers from her family and the villagers. They had known Gretel all her life; some could still recall the sight of her running around the bakery determined to help customers despite not being tall enough to reach the shelves or baskets. When Hansel joined the bakery, they welcomed him into the community as well. He had gained Reuben's approval and had managed to defend the bakery from Josef. Many had seen Hansel and Gretel together in town or at the bakery; all agreed that they made a nice couple, and it was time for them to make it official.

Suddenly, and unexpectedly the crowd fell silent. Their attention was on the newcomers who were pushing their way through the crowd. King Eugene and Queen Rapunzel were in the lead, with their former majesties behind them. They were joined by numerous guards, along with two people Hansel hated seeing together- his brother, Prince Marten, and Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Standing behind them was Becca, who was clinging onto Will.

And all had their eyes set on Hansel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. Hans isn't lucky enough to avoid running into coronation guests that would recognize him.
> 
> Next chapter is called The Gloves Come Off. The next chapter reveals how and why Rapunzel and co. showed up at the end of this chapter, the Burgs find out the truth about Hansel, and Hansel's fate is determined.


	9. The Gloves Come Off

_Earlier that evening..._

Prince Marten of the Southern Isles wasn't much of a dancer, preferring to stick to the outer edges of the ballroom. From his spot he could observe the crowded ballroom floor, full of people dancing around to the music. He hadn't quite known what to make of the hooked pianist when he first saw him sitting on the bench. In all honesty, the man looked more like a thug who'd rob him on the highway and less like a famous musician. How a person could even manage to play the piano with a hook, Marten didn't know, but the music was lovely nonetheless.

The center of attention was on the newly crowned King and Queen of Corona, and their young daughter. With the huge yawns and the bobbing of her head, it was time for her to go to bed. Yet, the toddler was determined to stay up long enough to release the lanterns with her parents. While waiting, her grandparents did their best to keep her awake and occupied. Marten had heard of the lanterns and how it was marvelous experience, but had never seen it in person and was looking forward to it.

Joining him in his corner of solitude was Queen Elsa of Arendelle. His stint as ambassador to Arendelle had turned into a permanent position, and he had even found himself named as one of her advisers. Thankfully, she was willing to give him a chance, despite his own brother's attempts to steal her throne. He had been the one to convince Elsa Arendelle would be fine in Anna and Kristoff's hands. The two had gotten married earlier that spring, and seemed to be settling quite well into married life.

The trip was one of many things he had helped her decide on in the past three years. After cutting off trade with Weselton, the Duke had tried his best to cut off Arendelle's remaining trade partners by spreading wild stories about the new queen by making her out to be an evil enchantress. Some believed him due to Arendelle closing itself off from the rest of the world for so long and the sudden winter weather in spring. Marten, who knew that Elsa was practicing her magic in secret, suggested that she should use her powers to find new trade partners to make up for the ones lost. Desert countries such as Agrabah and countries near the Mediterranean like Maldonia would pay handsomely for ice that wouldn't melt. Not just to keep cool during the summer, but to preserve their meats, cheeses and other temperature sensitive goods such as chocolate- something that was still rare to the hotter countries.

He had also encouraged her to use her powers in winter to make Arendelle into a winter wonderland. Elsa was careful to not lose control, but she created elaborate ice structures, a permanent skating rink, and perfectly powdered slopes. Nobles and well-off winter enthusiasts flocked to Arendelle to ski, sled, skate, curl, luge, and even invented a new sport that was played on ice with sticks and a ball. Arendelle was quickly gaining a reputation international as a winter retreat. Even in summer, Elsa made sure the mountains were well stocked with snow and the ice rink stayed solid. In addition to increasing revenue for Arenedelle, it had also increased her control and self-confidence in her powers.

Elsa was no longer the uptight ice queen his brother had encountered. With more control over her powers, she had become more social and come out of her shell a bit. She no longer wore her hair tightly coiled on her head. Currently her platinum blonde locks were let to flow loosely down her back. The dress she was wearing was not her well-known ice gown. Anna had encouraged her to try other colors besides blue, so she was wearing a deep Coronian purple dress with rosemaling-styled embroideries to give the gown an Arendelle touch.

Her appearance was a much welcomed one, and Marten felt heat rise to his cheeks suddenly. He had seen her earlier that evening, but she still managed to take his breath away.

She held out a champagne glass to him, and Marten gladly accepted it. "What's on your mind?" she asked.

Boy, was that ever a loaded question. There was a lot on his mind actually. Like how Elsa was the most beautiful person in the room at the moment. Or how his stomach was filled with butterflies when she appeared before him. Or how his heart was currently pounding in his ears.

But he couldn't admit that. Queen Elsa of Arendelle had made it clear in the past to her advisers she wasn't looking for suitors at the moment. She was finally reconnecting with her sister after years of isolation, and had a country to run. She still had years before she would have to marry and produce an heir, and there was still Anna and Kristoff. Besides, why would she ever consider him as as suitor? She was elegant and refined, and he was a gangling bookworm who had no problem with giving advice and negotiating treaties, but would get tongue-tied talking about his feelings. And that wasn't even accounting for the fact that his own brother had tried to kill her and her sister.

Since he couldn't tell her what really was on his mind, he decided on another topic. It had been on his mind earlier, and he knew Elsa would certainly be interested. "I ran into Hans today in the village," he said, studying her reaction. As predicted, a look of of shock crossed her face. He knew that his brother was still a sore subject for Elsa, despite being punished. But better for her to find out from him now, than somebody else, or run into him herself.

"I think he's changed," he added, in hopes to relieve her fears. "He said he was working at a bakery and had a cat with him who seemed rather fond of him," he said sparing a glance down at his leg. The cuts from earlier had stung, but hadn't been deep. His pants had been ruined, but the palace healers had assured him he'd be fine once they put a special salve on the cuts to prevent infection and wrapped them up. "He never was one much for animals when he was younger, so that has to be a good sign."

At least, Marten thought he hadn't been for animals. He hadn't really been around when Hans was growing up. Nobody had really. His mother had been adored by all her sons and her husband. But then she died giving birth to Hans and everything changed. Their father packed all her things away, and refused to talk about her death or life to his sons. He put them in charge of raising Hans, but none had much interest in looking after the brother who had caused their mother's death. Besides, they were too busy grieving too. Marten retreated into the library, seeking sanctuary in the books. In later years he would become a diplomat just so he could away from the palace. Years after her death he was still finding himself expecting his mother to come around a corner in the hallway, or be sitting in her favorite spot in the rose gardens.

When Otto, Rupert, and Wilbert ignored Hans for three years, Marten just went along with it and didn't interfere. Better they pick on Hans than Marten, who was a common target for his brothers' pranks and teasing due to his small physique. It was only after the events in Arendelle did Marten look back on his memories of Hans' childhood and realized he should have done more. They all should have done more. If they had, maybe Hans would have turned out differently.

After Hans was banished, they received word from Ferdi and the Duke of Weselton that Hans had paid them a visit. And then nothing. Three years and not a trace of their youngest brother. Their father refused to talk about Hans, just like he had once refused to talk about their mother. Marten had been in Arendelle, but in letters with his brothers, there was always the question, _have you heard anything about Hans?_ There were the unasked questions as well, but could only be picked up if one read between the lines.  _Do you think he's dead, and is it all our fault?_  Marten wasn't the only one, it seemed, to reconsider his actions towards his baby brother in recent years- the younger twins had even cut back some of their teasing and pranks.

Which was why Marten had been so happy seeing Hans alive. He had some time to kill between the coronation and the ball so he had decided to see what new books the village might hold for him. There had been several, so he had arranged them to be sent to the ship that had brought Marten, Elsa, and the other Arendelle guests to Corona. He had been pleasantly surprised by the bookstore's selection, and even more surprised when he stepped outside.

It was understandable that Hans wouldn't be the happiest to see one of his brothers, but Marten didn't let that bother him. His brother was alive, and seemed to be doing well for himself. When Hans hadn't reacted to the news of their father's death, Marten understood why. While he had always been the good and dutiful son, that didn't mean he had the best relationship with his father. The only time he got attention was when he managed to smooth things over politically with other countries, so he could understand Hans' bitter feelings toward the man. Marten had even once confided in Elsa that he truly believed that his father died the day his mother did.

Elsa didn't seem to share his enthusiasm that his brother was alive in Corona. "But I don't understand, surely their majesties would have mentioned such a thing, they were at my coronation after all, and know what Hans did."

Marten supposed Elsa did have a point. He didn't think Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene would purposely conceal Hans' residency from Elsa, but they should have put some security protocols in place to be on the safe side. "Perhaps they just forget to mention it with the coronation," he said, trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Elsa continued to frown, and Marten felt his stomach do flip flops. He had honestly believed that it was best to tell her now lest she be surprised later, but he was currently second guessing his decision. He put his free hand into hers and squeezed it. "After they release the lanterns, we'll go and ask them. I promise you Queen Elsa, my brother will not harm you again, you have my word."

She smiled at him, causing his stomachs to flip flop for other reasons. "I can always count on you Marten."

* * *

While Marten wanted to get the issue addressed as soon as possible, he was glad he waited until after the lanterns. They were even more beautiful than he imagined, and Elsa seemed just as awed by them as he was.

"Who'd ever think to use fire in such a way?" she murmured to him, as they watched the lanterns ascend into the dark sky.

_Probably the same type of person who thought to use ice to build a palace,_ he mused internally.

Once all the lanterns were released the crowd started to gather back inside where the food and the music was. Elsa led Marten to Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene, who was handing off his tired daughter to his mother-in-law. The child had her parent's brown hair, but her eyes and face were her mother's, while her nose clearly belonged to her father.

"I'm sorry to bother you, your majesties, but I was wondering if you could answer a question for us," said Elsa politely and composed, not showing any sign of the nerves she had earlier upon hearing Hans was in Corona.

Queen Rapunzel nodded, "Of course, what's the question?"

Seeing as how Hans was  _his_  brother, it was Marten who answered. "Earlier today I was down at the bookstore you recommended- thank you for that, by the way- and I happened to run into my brother, former Prince Hans of the Southern Isles. Queen Elsa and I were wondering why you didn't say anything to us earlier about his presence here."

Both Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene exchanged confused looks, while the former king echoed their confused expressions. Since both had been there at Elsa's coronation, they were well aware of what his brother had done, and probably had heard he'd been disciplined as well. Yet the confusion on their faces seemed genuine as if they had no idea what he was talking about.

"Are you sure it was your brother?" asked King Eugene.

"Indeed," said the former king stepping forward. "I received word of your brother's punishment and nobody claiming to be Prince Hans of the Southern Isles has ever sought an audience with me."

Marten nodded his head, not liking the only conclusion that could explain everything. "He recognized me and we... talked." Well, more like Hans yelled, but Marten deserved it. "He said that he was working at a bakery here," added Marten.

King Eugene stroked his chin thoughtfully before widening his eyes excitedly and snapping his fingers. "Blondie, wasn't there some guy earlier boasting about how his family supplied a lot of the bakeries and other eateries in town? Wouldn't he know about Hans?"

Marten couldn't quite figure out the blondie comment, but let it drop since there were more important matters to attend to. "Eugene, leave it to you to remember the people who work with food."

Her husband just shrugged and grinned at her. "What can I say, my stomach likes being well-fed."

"Perhaps a little too well-fed," giggled the queen as she poked his stomach.

Elsa, who had had enough of the bantering cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but can we get back to Hans, you know, the guy who tried to kill me and my sister?"

Queen Rapunzel nodded, and led to the group of five across the room to where a young man was currently dancing with a young girl. The girl immediately stopped mid-step and let out a squeak of surprise. The man turned around, and once he seemed to realize who was before him bowed deeply while the girl curtsied.

"Your majesties," said the young man, "whatever can I do for you?"

"You said earlier that you provided supplies to all the bakeries and eateries in the village. Have you come across any who employed a man by the name of Hans?" asked Queen Rapunzel.

The young man had beamed when she mentioned remembering him from earlier. So many people had congratulated the royal couple that night, it was nice to know he had made an impression. He was determined to not let his new queen down.

"Hans, I don't think so... do you know anything else about the man?" he replied, slightly disheartened that he couldn't immediately answer. He had never been asked anything of his queen before, and he didn't want it to end disgracefully.

Elsa moved forward and said, "Marten, didn't you say something about Hans having a cat?"

"That's right," agreed Marten, frowning slightly at the memory, "It was an orange-yellow, with a big bow around it's neck." In a lower voice he muttered, "And a bit of an attitude problem..."

The girl bounced on her heels excitedly. "That sounds just like Teddy! Except we don't have a Hans at our bakery, we have a Hansel."

"Oh really?" If Hans was concealing his identity as Marten suspected, he could have at least chosen a better name than Hansel. It was only two letters away from Hans for crying out loud. "And which bakery would this be exactly?"

The man open his mouth to answer, but the girl beat him to it. Apparently, she didn't need much prompting to talk. "My family's bakery, the Burg Family bakery. Hansel showed up three years ago and my sister Gretel offered him a job. He's practically family, though I guess he'll actually be family soon since he's supposed to propose tonight."

Elsa let out a gasp at the proposal news, and Marten couldn't blame her. The last time Hans had proposed hadn't ended prettily. "Where is he now?" demanded Elsa.

The girl looked puzzled at Elsa's and Marten's panicked expressions. "Why? Did Hansel do something wrong?"

That was the understatement of the night.

* * *

_Presently..._

Gretel and the other villagers curtsied and bowed to the royalty before them. Instinctively, Hansel stepped in front of Gretel. Judging by their expressions, his brother and Elsa were not there to congratulate him on his engagement. The last thing he wanted was for Gretel to get hurt. Teddy seemed to have a similar idea and stepped in front of Hansel, his fur raised and ready for a fight.

Gretel didn't seem to care though, for she peeked around his shoulder. "Hansel, what's going on?"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at Gretel's appearance and her eyes narrowed at the ring around her neck. Marten, ever the diplomat, stepped forward intent on salvaging the situation as best as possible. He had a feeling that if Elsa took the lead, his brother might not be in one piece by the end of the night.

"What's going on," answered Marten, "is that my brother seemed to have forgotten the terms of his punishment given to him by our father."

"Punishment?" questioned Gretel, voicing the thought which was running through the heads of all those present who only knew Hansel as the fellow who worked at the Burg Family Bakery. She noticed that Teddy was getting ready to fight and scooped him up in her arms not wanting him to hurt anybody.

"The man before you is not named Hansel," explained Elsa, "He is Prince Hans of the Southern Isles and four years ago he was invited to my coronation. While there he got engaged to my younger sister and made an attempt on her life and mine."

"Our father stripped Hans of his title and banished him from the Southern Isles," finished Marten, "with the condition that he go to the ruler of whatever land he came to and tell them of his crimes. It seems as though he's forgotten the last part."

There was an audible gasp from the crowd present. The summer winter in Arendelle had reached Corona. While the kingdom didn't experience the snow and ice, it did experience record lows for the summer, and eventually an explanation for the winter reached Corona. Not one person had ever thought for a second the Southern Isles prince who had been involved in the affair could be in Corona. Certainly not masquerading as one of the villagers.

"Hansel, is this true?" asked Gretchen, who emerged from the crowd which had parted to let the matriarch of the Burg family through. She gently placed a hand on Hansel's shoulder.

Hansel bowed his head in shame. He hadn't wanted the Burgs to find out the truth about his past, let alone like this. His face flushed a shade of red that matched his hair, and he couldn't bare to raise his head to face the Burgs. "It's true," he admitted, albeit reluctantly.

The new queen asked, "If it's true, why didn't you come to me or my parents like you were supposed to?"

"I... I didn't want to be rejected again," mumbled Hansel. "I was so cold and hungry, and the Burgs offered me shelter and a job and I just didn't want to give it up and have to start all over again..."

Hansel felt Gretchen squeeze his shoulder and whisper into his ear, "Burg bread." Well at least he had one of the Burgs on his side.

"Be that as it may," stated the former king, "if Corona wishes to continue having a good relationship with the Southern Isles, we must respect your father wishes. I was hoping a little more time would pass before my daughter would have to attend to such official business, but there is more to being a monarch than just a crown."

Queen Rapunzel let out a small gasp and held up a hand to her mouth. "Papa, you don't really mean..."

"Yes, I do," replied her father. "If your mother and I didn't have faith in your and Eugene's abilities we would have never stepped down from our thrones."

Another of the Burgs, Reuben, interjected. "Your majesties, before you render any judgement on Hansel, I wish to say a few words on his behalf. I trust him not just with my life, but my family's. He has many opportunities to take advantage of us, but hasn't. If Hansel says he's changed, I believe him. I wouldn't have given my consent for him to marry my daughter if I didn't think he was a different man from who he used to be."

"My husband's right," added Gretchen. "When Hansel showed up on our doorstep all those years ago looking like a vagabond, we knew he had secrets."

Hansel's head jerked up at the last part. While Gretchen had talked to him about being Burg bread and not letting his past make him into Josef bread, she had never explicitly stated she knew that he was keeping secrets. Come to think of it, neither did any of the other Burgs.

"Don't look at us like that my boy," chuckled Reuben. "We're bakers, not idiots. I've seen deer who weren't as timid as you were."

"Yeah, and what kind of sweet boy doesn't talk about his family or his background? Whenever we did ask, you'd mumble a response," said Gretchen.

Even Becca, who had been mostly quiet, decided to speak up. "Not to mention you took your sweet time courting Gretel..."

"That too," commented Gretchen. "We knew you had a past Hansel, who doesn't? But we decided to let you tell us in your own time."

"Which appears to be now," finished Reuben.

Hansel felt his heart warming. If he had all of the Burgs' support, then maybe things would turn out alright after all. Gradually, the crowd started to murmur in agreement, sharing stories of how Hansel had helped them at some time or another. Of how many had seen him on his way to the shelter with Teddy by his side and leftovers in his arms. Of how he was always kind and gentle with the younger Burgs and other children in the village. Of how he would sometimes help elderly customers carry their purchases home. Of how his eyes would light up whenever he looked at Gretel.

The murmurs began to get louder and louder until King Eugene held up a hand to silence the crowd. "Well, I think I've heard enough. What about you Blondie?"

Queen Rapunzel nodded, and the two shared a look. Without even speaking, both knew what the other was thinking. "While my husband and I do recognize that Prince Hans has committed crimes against Queen Elsa and Princess Anna of Arendelle, we must also recognize his actions here in Corona. He hasn't committed any crimes here, and seems to be an upstanding member of society. Furthermore, it would be hypocritical of us send him away simply because he made some bad choices in the past. As long as he continues to stay on the side of the law I see no reason why Hans- I mean Hansel- shouldn't be allowed to stay in Corona."

A cheer went up from the audience, and the queen's father beamed at his daughter for making a decision that was based on reason and logic, while not completely overlooking Hansel's crimes. Hansel felt a smile break out on his face and quickly found himself being embraced by the Burgs and other villagers.

The only one who seemed to disagree with the queen's decision was the other queen who was present. "Surely, you can't be serious and just let him endanger another poor girl," protested Elsa.

"Hey," shouted Hansel as he tried to free himself of the crowd and face the Queen of Arendelle head on, "leave Gretel alone!"

The two were mere inches apart when Elsa spat back, "Why? So she won't have any idea of the man she's really marrying?"

Elsa had a fierce look in her eyes, and the air temperature began to drop a few degrees. Hansel had an equally fierce look in his eyes. He may not have been able to match Elsa's powers, but he wouldn't allow her to insult Gretel without a fight.

Two hands pushed their hand in between the queen and former prince, shoving them apart forcefully. "Look," said King Eugene, "Queen Elsa, I get where you're coming from. He hurt your sister and you want to make sure he won't hurt anybody else. What you need to understand is that people can change." He paused, taking a moment to look at his wife who was standing off to the side smiling at him. "People can change if they have somebody worth changing for," he said, smiling back wistfully at her. "And it seems to me that he's found quite a few people worth changing for."

Elsa frowned. She knew what the king was referring to; her advisers had made sure she was well up to date on all those who attended her own coronation, particularly the prince who used to be a thief until he returned the kingdom's lost princess. She hadn't known him for that long, but the new king seemed to be a decent person. His and the queen's relationship actually reminded her of how Anna and Kristoff interacted with one another.

"Very well," she conceded, "Arendelle has no right to interfere in the affairs of Corona. But the second he steps out of line, send word."

"Agreed," replied Queen Rapunzel. "But there won't be a need for that, will there Hansel?"

"No your majesty," said Hansel shaking his head. He was so grateful for being accepted and not being banished, he wasn't about to go and screw it up. Even if he still the urge to punch his brother. But it was fading. Mostly.

Speaking of his brother, he gave Hansel a smile and held out his hand to Hansel. "Here's to letting bygones be bygones?"

Hansel looked at the hand as if it was attached to the witch who lived in the woods. His brother wanted him to forgive him, just like that?! The stare Gretchen was giving him caught his eye, and he shook his brother's hand grudgingly. He supposed forgiveness was part of being a Burg, and he had just promised the new queen he would behave. Hansel doubted she'd turn a blind eye to refusing to shake his brother's hand and punching him instead.

Before he knew it though, his brother had pulled him into a full-fledged hug. "I really am glad you're alright and am sorry," he whispered to Hansel. Hansel felt a small part of his heart he thought he had closed off long ago thaw a little. Yes, it wasn't his father, yes, he had thought he was over needing his family's approval, and yes Marten had a lot to answer for, but that didn't mean Hansel didn't enjoy the hug. Just a tiny bit.

He pulled away before it could go on for too long and border on being awkward. Looking around he saw so many faces smiling at the tender scene. Gretchen, Reuben, the former king, King Eugene, Queen Rapunzel, Marten, Elsa, Becca, Will, Lisa, Tilly, Cara, Mia, Attila, all of the Burgs' extended family and the villagers. So many faces but the one he wanted to see the most.

Gretel was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So about this chapter... Originally, the plan was for Hans to be shunned when the truth was revealed, but then I realized it was obvious and didn't really fit with how Corona is presented in Tangled. The people of Corona seemed to be perfectly fine with Eugene marrying their lost princess. That's the equivalent of one of the FBI's Most Wanted breaking into the White House, stealing a national treasure, destroying a city's dam, breaking out of jail on his execution day and being elected to the White House all because he saved a missing celebrity while everybody overlooks his criminal past and association with known gang members.
> 
> The simple explanation is that Disney wanted a happy ending for all, so they overlooked how the Coronians should have reacted. An in universe explanation, which is what I'm going with, is that Coronians are just more forgiving and accepting of others. They're very welcoming and friendly, something that I've tried my best to show with the Burg family. As a result, while they realize Hansel has done some bad things in his past, they're willing to give him a second chance. Not only did they give Eugene (who can relate extremely well to Hansel) a second chance, but they gave all the Pub Thugs a second chance as well. During the 'I Have a Dream' scene, it's not directly stated but is implied that they have killed. Hook Hand stands over a chalk outline with an ax where the head is drawn while singing, 'and violence wise my hands are not the cleanest'. So if the Coronians can look past actual murder, I'm pretty sure they could look past attempted murder. Plus, it's coronation day, so it's also highly likely that partying all day and alcohol might have helped.
> 
> Of course, Hansel isn't off completely. While he hasn't committed any crimes in Corona other than concealing his identity, if he were to do anything illegal in the future, he could be banished and/or worse depending on the crime, and it would be brought to Rapunzel's and Eugene's attention. Essentially, he's on parole and needs to be on his best behavior.
> 
> Next chapter is called Say Something, I'm Giving Up On You. When I was brainstorming this fic, the song was stuck in my head and it seemed to fit Hansel and the next chapter so well. As you may have noticed, Gretel didn't stick around at the end of the chapter. She has her reasons for not being as forgiving as the rest of the villagers which Hansel will find out in the next chapter.


	10. Say Something (I'm Giving Up on You)

Hansel didn't know it was possible for a person to go from being ecstatic, to terrified, back to ecstatic, and back to terrified in such a short period of time. First Gretel had accepted his proposal, then his brother and Elsa revealed who he really was, then the king and queen had declared he could stay in Corona, and then he saw Gretel was gone. It appeared that she had taken Teddy with her due to his brother's pants still being intact.

He spent several minutes scanning the crowd for her face, her braid, or that distinctive yellow dress while ignoring Marten's badgering. Hansel had more important things on his mind than the family reunion which had just happened. While the reunion was unexpected and sudden, Hansel didn't have time to stop and chat with his brother when he could be finding Gretel.

Reuben saw the frantic look on Hansel's face and sighed. "I'm sorry Hansel, but she ran off before anybody could stop her."

Ran off to where though? The answer came to Hansel easily, and he felt like an idiot for not thinking of it immediately. Gretel had most likely ran home to the bakery. She had a key with her, and where else would she go?

Hansel ignored Marten's demands for an answer as to what was going on, along with the claps on the back and congratulations from the towns people. He didn't know why Gretel had run off because he didn't know when she had ran and how much she had heard. Which is why the sooner he got to her to explain what had happened and why he hadn't told her, the better.

Sure enough, he found her in the bakery. The back door was unlocked and she was in the room she shared with her sisters. She was sitting on her bed fingering the ring he had given her earlier. Teddy was by her side and she was petting him absentmindedly while she was lost in thought. So lost that she didn't even notice he had entered the room. It wasn't until Teddy leaped off of the bed to run to Hansel and her hand met an empty space did she even bother to look up.

A surprise look crossed her face, but she didn't say anything. She simply turned her head away. Teddy looked from Gretel to Hansel confused, and pawed Hansel as if to say, 'Do something!' Hansel shot him a look of his own, 'I'm working on it!'

Hansel sat down next to Gretel on the bed. Beneath them was a worn quilt, no doubt some of Tilly's work. "Look, I can explain-"

"Explain?" she asked, finally speaking to him but cutting him off at the same time. "Explain what? The fact that you lied to me and my family about who you were for three years?!"

The anger in her voice made Hansel pause. In all the years he had known her, he couldn't remember a time when she was so mad. Irritated, impatient, upset, sad, but never mad. He had seen her parents and her sisters angry plenty of times, but never Gretel. He didn't even know it was possible.

"I thought you were going to explain," said Gretel after an uncomfortable silence. Hansel ran his fingers through his hair nervously. He was a fool for thinking that simply because the king and queen had allowed him to stay in the kingdom and all the villagers had been accepting of his past that everything was okay. It wasn't. Life had never been kind to him before, so why should it now?

"How much did you hear before you left?" In order for him to explain, he needed to know where to begin.

"Enough," she answered quietly. Her voice, while at a lower volume was still on edge. She was still angry, just no longer shouting. "Enough to know your name isn't Hans. Enough to know why your last engagement didn't work out."

Hansel now had a place to start. "Yes, well after you left, their majesties decided that as long as I remained on my best behavior I could stay in Corona."

"That's not an explanation," replied Gretel coldly. "I assumed as much seeing as you're here and not in a dungeon in chains or on a boat out of Corona."

Right. That was kind of obvious now that he thought about it. What was it about Gretel that caused his brain to freeze and overlook the obvious?

Gretel was still waiting for an explanation. "Look, I'm not that.. I'm not that person anymore. I haven't been Prince Hans of the Southern Isles for a long time. I  _am_  Hansel Anders of Corona. I didn't want to lie to you and your family, but I was just so grateful for a new start and thought it didn't matter."

Gretel scoffed at him. "Didn't matter? You thought concealing your identity and not doing what you were supposed to didn't matter?! What if the truth had come out in a few years when we were married and had children? What if their majesties weren't so understanding then? You know how important my family is to me Hansel, or whatever your name is. Would you really have made me choose between being banished from Corona with my husband or staying with my family? Or worse, made them choose between losing their daughter or losing the bakery?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to trust me. I trusted you with my biggest fear and my father trusted you with the Burg bread secret ingredient. Did it never occur to you that you could trust us in return? We would have gone to their majesties to make things right and supported you."

"And what if it had gone all wrong? What if they decided that I couldn't stay in Corona?"

"We would have dealt with it, if you only had given us the chance. We knew you had a past, but we still welcomed you into our home and family. It's a shame you didn't trust us in return."

"I tried to kill my fiancee and her sister and was banished from my kingdom. That's hardly appropriate conversation for the dinner table."

"No, but it is an appropriate conversation to have before you ask somebody to marry you!"

By this point in the heated discussion both of them were standing up and in each other's faces. Teddy was circling around them and pawed at them occasionally in hopes it'd get them to calm down. It wasn't working.

"Gretel I'm sorry. I-"

"Stop. Just stop. I need to be alone so please leave."

"Gretel-"

"Leave. Now."

Before Hansel could protest further he pushed out of the room with the door slammed in his face. On the floor was the chain with ring on it. No doubt it had fallen from Gretel's fingers when she had thrown him out of the room. Hansel picked it up and raised a hand to knock on the door. But what was the point? She had said she wanted to be alone. Instead he placed it around the doorknob. Perhaps once she realized it was missing she would come out and look for it in which case it'd be on the doorknob waiting for her.

* * *

Several hours later, Gretel had still refused to see Hansel. She had seen her sisters and parents, but refused to talk to him. Apparently when she said she wanted to be alone what she really meant was she didn't want to be with Hansel. By now, the majority of the Corona and the Burg household were in bed. Except for Hansel who was in the kitchen at the fireplace. The same one three years earlier he had thrown the letter his father had given him into. Now though, instead of watching his past go up in flames he was watching his future.

Reuben came down the back staircase and stood next to Hansel at the fireplace. "You should go to bed Hansel. Gretel just needs some time to process everything."

"You and Gretchen processed everything just fine," muttered Hansel. "Nobody else got angry at me, except her."

"Hansel," said Reuben gently, "just because we stood up for you, doesn't mean we're not angry at you for deceiving us. We are, but we understand you had your reasons and dwelling on it won't change anything."

"Why can't Gretel understand that?"

"It is one thing to deceive your employer, but it is another to deceive your wife. Spouses should not keep such secrets from each other, not ones that could put themselves or children at risk. Trust me Hansel, I speak from experience."

"Oh really?" asked Hansel, not really caring about what Reuben was saying. Reuben and the others had managed to get over him lying about his past, why couldn't Gretel? Why was she still angry at him? Sure she had some valid points, but everything had worked out though.

"The summer I discovered the Rapunzel for the Burg bread. Gretchen was expecting Tilly at the time, and Lisa and Becca were both small and getting over colds. Gretel had gotten over hers and was tired of staying in bed. I wanted to go looking for new ingredient so I told Gretchen I'd take Gretel with me to go for a picnic and let her see fields full of flowers. Well, we saw the flowers for a few minutes but then continued our way into the woods. I had never ventured into that part of the forest, mostly due to the stories about the witch. But I figured since they were just stories, everything would be okay."

Hansel, who had started to pay a bit more of attention to what Reuben was saying, knew where he was going. "But it wasn't. Gretel wandered off."

Reuben nodded. "One minute she was next to me, the next she was gone. I don't know how long I searched, but I was never more afraid in my life. I found her along with the Rapunzel. She was a bit dazed and confused, but safe. At least, that's what I thought. I didn't tell Gretchen what had happened, just that I had found the plant near the woods. I was so happy that I had the ingredient at last, but Gretel... poor Gretel started having nightmares."

"Of the witch," murmured Hansel.

"Indeed. Well Gretchen found out what really happened that day and yelled at me for putting Gretel at risk for a plant. She was right of course. With time though she forgave me, but made me promise I would only take Gretel with me to get the plant in the future and that neither of us would ever go to get the plant alone. Eventually Gretel's nightmares went away. I think going back each summer and having nothing happen helped her get over her fear."

The nightmares may be gone, but the fear was very much still there, though Hansel didn't say anything. "Look, the point I'm trying to make is when you're married and have a family you can't be putting yourself first. I wanted my plant so badly I nearly lost Gretel for good and could have lost Gretchen and the others as well. That's why Gretel is still angry with you. By concealing your true identity and past you put her and us at risk."

Guilt filled Hansel. Reuben and Gretel were both right. He had never considered what might happen to them if the truth came out, just himself. He was ashamed of who he used to be and was afraid if they found out the truth they would tell him to leave just like his own family had which he wouldn't have been able to bear. He had come to love living in Corona and with the Burgs, especially Gretel.

Yet, if their majesties hadn't been so merciful things could have turned out differently. Hansel could have been banished along with the Burgs for sheltering him. Or imprisoned. Or executed. While it seemed like executions had decreased over the years ever since the lost princess's return, it was still a possibility. Or if the truth had come out later, Gretel would have been forced to decide between leaving her husband or leaving her family. None of those possibilities had ever occurred to Hansel. Just that if he told the truth he would be the one to lose everything, not them.

Reuben patted him on the back and left to go back upstairs, to bed no doubt. Hansel tried dozing in his own, but with the thoughts racing through his mind he didn't manage much sleep. First and foremost was Gretel. Unable to sleep, Hansel quietly tiptoed up the stairs and toward her bedroom. The door was now open and Hansel could see Gretel on the bed surround by her sisters. It looked as if none had bothered to change out of their clothes from the night before. Gretel was sleeping peacefully with Teddy under one arm. Seeing Hansel, Teddy wriggled out of her grip and over to Hansel. His movement jangled the necklace that was still hanging on the doorknob.

Hansel thought that if he left it and Gretel opened the door she would see it and take it. The door was open and had been opened several times for her sisters, but the necklace was still hanging there, unwanted- just like Hansel was.

Everybody else had forgiven him for his past and concealing it. Everybody but the one person who mattered, and it looked like she never would.

Hans really should have known better. His life after all, wasn't a fairy tale.

* * *

When Reuben and Gretchen came down in the morning to open the bakery, Reuben was pleased to discover that Hansel was no longer standing in front of the fireplace. His pleasure didn't last long when Gretchen discovered a note on one of the tables. Hansel had left the Burg Bakery.

For good.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was shorter than usual, but was mainly about explaining why Gretel was upset with Hansel and him realizing that he hadn't even considered the consequences for Gretel and the Burgs if their majesties hadn't been so forgiving. The Burgs could have been punished for employing and housing Hans. Or he could have been sent into exile with Gretel forced to choose between her husband and her family, and her family choosing between Gretel and their bakery. The Burgs are a very close family, so it would have been agony for them to choose what to do, all because Hans was too selfish to admit the truth and go to the king and queen of Corona like he was supposed to. Gretel realizes that Hansel has changed from who he used to be and is sorry for what happened in Arendelle, but is angry that he was more worried about himself than what could have happened to the Burgs if/when the truth came out. I hope that makes sense.
> 
> Next chapter, titled 'Into the Woods', should be longer. Hansel sends himself away from Corona and the witch finally shows back up. There will also be a reference to a non-animated Disney movie.


	11. Into the Woods

_Come little children, I'll take thee away..._

The sky was a brilliant shade of blue, and there was a slight breeze in the air making the summer day feel more like spring. The babbling of a nearby brook and the chirping of birds in the trees could be heard in the meadow where Prince Marten, Queen Elsa, King Eugene, Queen Rapunzel, Princess Aurora and a few others were picnicking. Their majesties had suggested one last get-together before the visiting ambassadors and royals left to return to their lands.

The majority present were laughing happily and enjoying the pleasant weather. Marten, meanwhile, kept sighing. On their way out of the village he had stopped by at the bakery where his brother worked. The owner, a Reuben Burg, had informed Marten that Hans was out and he wasn't sure when Hans would be back. He then offered their majesties some bread in exchange for being so gracious the night before. From what Marten had gathered it was a signature item at the bakery that was quite well-known throughout the village.

"You're still thinking about Hans, aren't you?" asked Elsa who was seated to his right. She was currently wearing a periwinkle gown which looked impeccable on her despite the fact Elsa was sitting on the ground. Her hair was braided in a single braid draped over her left shoulder; the breeze causing it to swish back and forth like a cat's tail.

_...into a land of enchantment._

Marten just nodded in response. He supposed it was naive of him to hope that Hans would have agreed to come on such an outing. but given the events that had transpired the day before, he had found himself believing all sorts of things were possible now.

"Personally, I'm glad Hans wasn't able to come," remarked Elsa, "it would have been rather uncomfortable trying to converse with someone who once tried to kill me."

Marten winced a little at the comment, but Elsa did have a point. If Hans had been available to join them, the lunch would have most likely been extremely awkward. Especially if Hans' new fiancee and her family joined them as well. Perhaps it was for the best that Hans was unable to come.

The bitterness in her voice when she said Hans' name caused Marten to have a sudden thought. In all the years he had been at the Arendelle court, Hans had always been a sensitive topic. He would only ever be spoken about when Marten would receive letters from the Southern Isles and informed Elsa that there hadn't been any news of Hans. That was it. Never once had the queen, or her sister who had been engaged to the man, asked for more. What he was like as a child, if he had always been so cruel, what would have caused him to act the way he did. And never once had Marten ever volunteered any information.

That was about to change.

"Your majesty," he said and caused one of her platinum blonde eyebrows to raise just a little. He only addressed her in such a manner for a formal occasion or if he was about to tell her bad news. "While I understand your distaste for my brother, have you once considered the reason for his behavior? For I assure you, my brothers and I are just as guilty in your assassination attempt as he is."

"I beg your pardon?" asked Elsa, who was slightly in shock. All this time Marten had denied any involvement or encouragement from the Southern Isles regarding Hans' actions and she had never once doubted his word. But now...

_Come little children, the time's come to play..._

"During these past three years you have spoken openly about how lonely your childhood was being confined to your bedroom with most of the servants gone, and your parents as your only visitors. Now imagine a different childhood. One where you're surrounded by people, but they all ignore you or belittle you. One of your parents is dead and the other blames you for the death. You see, your majesty, you at least had the benefit of understanding the reason for your exile, Hans never did."

Elsa's brows furrowed as she tried to make sense of what Marten just said. It wasn't exactly what she had been expecting. He was right of course, she hadn't ever questioned the reasons for Hansel's actions. She had just assumed he was evil, a villain who was power hungry and saw her and Anna as the perfect opportunity for his nefarious plot. That was it usually went in stories wasn't it? Nobody cared why the bad guy was bad, he just  _was._ When he was defeated the story was over and all the characters lived happily ever after, not giving a second thought to his fate.

Until now.

"That still doesn't excuse his behavior," muttered Elsa. She still wasn't his biggest fan, but there was a part of her that felt a small twinge of sympathy for him.

"No," responded Marten, "but it does explain it. Despite the actions of my brothers and myself, it seems as though Hans has finally found what he always wanted in Corona."

"What's that?" asked Elsa.

"Love."

_...here in my garden of shadows._

* * *

_Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way..._

Hansel left the Burg Family Bakery just as the sun was starting to come up. Before he left, he started the fires in the ovens and prepared the kitchen like he always did. The Burgs had counted on him to do it each day, and he wasn't about to let them down... even if it was his last morning at the bakery. He told himself the Burgs were well known in Corona, so even if they couldn't find a spare cousin to take his place, they shouldn't have too hard of a time finding another worker. Hansel tried to not dwell on the fact that he was much more than a worker at the Burg Family Bakery; he was one of the family.

But not anymore.

The only Burg who caught Hansel leaving was Teddy. Teddy had followed him down the stairs and watched him as he prepared the kitchen and wrote the goodbye note. Teddy knew something was off when he saw Hansel packing his belongings in a satchel and walking out the door. With each step away from the bakery and towards the bridge that led out of Corona, Teddy became more and more suspicious. He circled around Hansel's feet, and meowed loudly, demanding answers. Hansel just ignored him and continued on his way. The last thing he wanted was to be stopped by one of the villagers and have to explain that he was leaving.

When they reached the bridge though, Teddy refused to budge one more step. Instead he sank his claws into Hansel's right pant leg. Unlike Marten, Teddy did at least try to avoid hitting flesh and settled for cloth only. His actions caused him to act like an anchor, weighing Hansel down and preventing any further movement. Hansel finally gave in and knelt down.

"Look, you saw how she was, she doesn't want me anymore. It's over. You can either stay here in Corona, or come with me."

Teddy may not have been able to speak, but his expression did all the talking for him. His ginger face clearly said, 'You're an idiot'. To back it up, he let out one single loud and annoyed meow.

"I'm sorry Teddy, but this is the way it has to be. Now are you coming or staying?"

_...through all the pain and the sorrows._

Teddy removed his claws from Hansel's pants. He gave one last look back towards the direction of the bakery, then continued forward across the bridge. Hansel did the same, taking a moment to reflect on the turn his life had taken. He had come to Corona because he had been banished from his own kingdom, a choice that wasn't his. Now he was leaving the one place that had felt more like a home than the Southern Isles ever did, and it was of his own free will.

The only similarity to his last exile was once again, he had no idea where he was going. Maybe this time though, if word got back to Ferdi's kingdom that he had been accepted in Corona, then maybe his brother might be willing to give him a chance...

It was a long shot sure, but he had to start somewhere.

With Teddy by his side, the two made their way over the bridge and into the woods. A few months ago Hansel had taken the same path, but with Gretel by his side as well. He spared a glance for the flowers in the meadow where they had eaten and tried to ignore the lump in his throat and the ache in his heart. That was over now. Gretel didn't want anything to do with Hansel and there was nothing he could do to change her mind.

_Weep not poor children, for life is this way..._

At one point he heard the sound of wheels and horses behind him, and he quickly grabbed Teddy and stepped off of the road and into the woods. Glancing out between the leaves and branches of the trees, Hansel could see several carriages with the royal insignia. Also accompanying the carriages were several people riding horses. The queen was seated upon a white horse with her daughter, while her husband was riding a darker horse. Among the group were the queen's parents, and Elsa and Marten.

Hansel cursed his luck under his breath. It was a nice day, so of course the royal family was out to enjoy it the day after their coronation. The meadow he and Gretel had picnicked in would surely be too small for such a gathering. He didn't know where they'd end up stopping or for how long. He didn't want to risk being seen, so his only option was to continue traveling in the woods.

He sighed. At least nothing else could go wrong today. Nothing that could be worse than losing Gretel and the Burgs.

_...murdering beauty and passions._

* * *

_Hush now dear children, it must be this way..._

Princess Aurora didn't want to sit still and eat lunch, but nobody seemed to understand that. Her Grammy kept pulling her aside every time she got up and it was starting to annoy her. It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, she was, but there were just too many things to look at- things that she didn't get to see in the castle. Here there were different flowers and different butterflies and she could run about as much as she'd like. Well, at least until her Grammy picked her up and carried her back to her parents.

"Oh Mama, she's fine," said Aurora's own Mama, who picked her up and tickled her, causing Aurora to let out a shriek of delight. Her Papa soon joined in causing her shrieks to become even higher.

He tore off some small pieces of bread and put them in the little pocket on the side of her dress. "There," he said, "now Rory can go and play all she wants, and if she gets hungry she'll have some food with her."

_...to weary of life and deceptions._

Aurora, or Rory as her father called her, inspected the tiny bits of bread in her pocket and tasted a few bites. Satisfied with her Papa's handiwork, she hurried off to chase after a butterfly which had caught her attention.

"See, now everyone's satisfied," said King Eugene with a playful smirk on his face. His mother-in-law shook her head and gave him a polite smile, for she was well used to such antics. She didn't mean to worry so much about her granddaughter, but it was hard not to given the kidnapping of her own daughter. The last thing she wanted was for her own child to experience the same anguish she had gone through. Understanding where she was coming from, her husband squeezed her hand tightly.

The conversation soon turned to other topics. The five family members weren't the only ones present in the meadow. Other members of court, foreign dignitaries, and several members of the castle staff were there as well, coming and going in order to mingle with the royals. It was due to the large crowd that nobody noticed the young princess wander off close to the woods.

_Rest now my children, for soon we'll away..._

Nobody noticed the glossed look that crossed her eyes, or the odd song she was humming.

Nobody noticed her entering the woods.

Nobody, not even Princess Aurora herself, noticed the snagging of her dress on a log in the forest, causing a tear in her front pocket and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind her.

_...into the calm and the quiet._

* * *

_Come little children, I'll take thee away..._

Hansel didn't know how long he had been walking for in the forest. At one point he heard voices nearby and realized that the group of people he had seen earlier must be near. He took a wide berth in the other direction. Other than Teddy, he wanted to be alone.

If it wasn't for Teddy stopping suddenly and looking agitated, Hansel wouldn't have noticed where he was. So deep in his thoughts, he completely missed the transition from the ordinary and good part of the woods to the creepy and derelict part of the woods. The part he had once visited with Gretel in order to gather the plant for Burg bread and where the witch supposedly lived.

Taking in his bleak surroundings, Hansel turned to Teddy and said, "Let's get out of here." Hansel may not have wanted to run into his brother and Elsa, but he also didn't want to run into a witch who ate people.

Teddy looked up at Hansel and gave a nod in agreement. Most animals avoided that area of the forest for a reason, and all of his senses were telling him to run away. If it wasn't for his loyalty for Hansel, he would have done so already.

Hansel took a step backward in order to turn around when a single beam of light managed to break through the dark atmosphere and fell upon a small object on the ground, catching his eye. He bent down to get a closer look and noticed it wasn't a pebble, a leaf or a twig. Picking it up in his fingers, Hansel recognized the texture. Taking a whiff of it with his nose, he realized his assumption was correct- he was currently holding a crumb of Burg bread. He should know having baked so much of it over the years.

_...into a land of enchantment._

"What's Burg bread doing here?" he muttered, it just didn't make any sense.

Standing back up, Hansel's eyes scanned the ground for more crumbs of Burg bread. Now that he was actually looking for the bread, he noticed a small trail of breadcrumbs leading deeper into the woods and towards the Rapunzel plant. Hansel sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had a feeling he wouldn't like what was at the end of the trail, and it really wasn't any of his business. So what if there was a trail of bread from his former bakery deep in a part of the woods that nobody ever went into? It wasn't his problem. Why should he care?

 _Because,_ said a small voice in his head,  _somebody could be in trouble. One of the Burgs, one of the royal luncheon, or somebody else entirely. And if you never find out, you'll always wonder what you missed out on._

"What do you think? Should we follow the breadcrumbs and see if somebody's in trouble or walk away and pretend we never saw it?" asked Hansel out loud, not really expecting a response from Teddy.

The old Hansel wouldn't have bothered unless he knew for sure what was in it for him. But that was the old Hansel, and hadn't he just yesterday insisted he had changed? That he wasn't the selfish, heartless bastard he once was?

Sensing what he was thinking, Teddy pawed at his pant leg, the one he hadn't shredded with his claws, as if to say, 'I'm with you no matter what you decide'.

The duo, in agreement, silently continued to follow the trail of breadcrumbs. With each step Hansel's heart beat a little faster, and his breath was a little more ragged. He started to sweat and was beginning to wonder if he had perhaps made the wrong choice. It wouldn't be the first time in his life he had chosen poorly.

Several minutes later, which actually felt more like hours, he and Teddy reached the end of the trail. The spot where they ended up in was a bit farther than when Hansel had gone previously, as evident by the Rapunzel plants littering the ground around him. Mere feet away from him and Teddy was a little girl with dark brown hair. She was wearing a purple dress and had a matching purple ribbon in her hair. Hansel scooped her up in his arms. "Come on, let's get you..." his voice trailed off as he realized since he didn't even know who she was, how was he supposed to know where to get her back to?

The little girl didn't seem very interested in helping Hansel out at all. She didn't say 'thank you for rescuing me from the scary woods', or even something as simple as her name. Instead she kicked and screamed and struggled to get away from him. Girls wanting to get away from him was starting to become an un-welcomed trend in his life.

"Will you quit that," said Hansel, "can't you see I'm trying to save you?"

All of a sudden, Teddy let out a low hiss while the hair on his neck stood up. Hansel followed his line of sight and saw a figure standing in front of him he hadn't noticed before. The girl in his arms stretched out her own toward the mysterious figure. A feeling of unease descended upon Hansel and despite her struggle he clutched the girl even tighter to his chest. It was imperative that he keep her out of the figure's reach.

_Come little children, the time's come to play..._

Said figure took a few steps forward and Hansel and Teddy instinctively took a few steps back. However, the figure managed to get just close enough for Hansel to make out features. She, for it was most definitely a she, had skin that was sallow and appeared to be peeling off like flecks of paint on a wall. Her eyes were sunken into her face and gave Hansel a gap-toothed smile. Her hair, the little that remained, was greasy and stuck to her head. The clothing she was wearing was a hodge-podge of different materials in different colors in different styles. Hansel tried not to think of how they ended up that way or who their former owners were. There was not a doubt in his mind that the old crone before him was the witch from Gretel's stories who lured people into the woods only to eat them. The same figure he had seen all those years ago on his way to Corona.

Perhaps the creepiest part about her was the way her bony hands motioned to the girl in his arms, who was so eager to join the witch. No child in their right mind would ever want to be such a creature's arms.

"What have you done to her?" demanded Hansel, who managed to sound speak confidently, without his voice betraying how afraid he was.

Her voice, which sounded like gravel, responded, "It's much easier when my food comes willingly... it's been so long since I've had a proper meal, look what I've been reduced to, a mere bite."

"How unfortunate," said Hansel dryly, not caring about the witch's starvation or the reasons why it had been so hard for her in recent years to lure an adult and was forced to eat a small child- who was the only one now vulnerable to her Siren song.

"Oh yes," agreed the witch, "but what a fine day this has turned out to be, two for the price of one."

"No, not today. If you're so weak you can only lure a child, then you're too weak to subdue me. Take whatever spell you have on her off and let her go, and I'll go with you... willingly," offered Hansel.

The witch's eyes lit up. Hansel gulped nervously, well aware of what he was saying. He knew that he was sacrificing his life for a little girl he didn't even know- something the old him would most definitely never do. Yet, he had already sent himself into exile and off to an unknown destination. He had thought he had finally found where he belonged and a family that loved him and made him feel good about himself. Then there was Gretel, who had changed his life for the better. That was all gone though now. Without Gretel and the Burgs Hansel wasn't sure of where his life was going, but he did know that the girl in his arms had her life in front of her. Which made his sacrifice worth it. He didn't know who she was, but he didn't need to- she was Becca, Lisa, Tilly, Cara, and Mia.

"Very well," said the witch and waved a hand. Instantly, the girl ceased squirming and fighting Hansel's hold. A bewildered look crossed her face, and she cringed away from the witch, burying her face into Hansel's shirt- the proper reaction for a child he noted. She started to whimper and cry, calling out for her parents. Hansel stroked her hair to soothe her.

"I believe we had a deal..."

Hansel glared at the witch, but a deal was a deal. If he backed out now, she'd no doubt cast the spell on the girl again and Hansel didn't know for how long he'd be able to keep her away from the witch. Having no other option he set the girl on the ground. As he did so, her hand pulled a small golden chain out of his pocket. Hansel had forgotten he had stored the chain with Gretel's engagement ring on it in his pocket. The girl offered it up to him, but he shook his head.

"Keep it. I have no more use for it," he said somberly. Better for the girl to have it than the witch. Who knows what she'd do with it.

Teddy, who had been on guard this whole time, began to meow wildly. "Teddy, take her back to the village. Maybe someone there will know who she is and reunite her with her parents."

Teddy's meowing increased and Hansel sighed. "Teddy, lead her back to the village and go to Gretel and the Burgs," he ordered. Then, in a softer tone he added, "please... for me."

Seeing as his owner was dead-set on a deadly course of action, Teddy gave in. He nudged the girl away from the witch to get her to start walking in the direction of the village. Teddy gave him one last mournful look before leading the girl away, following the trail of breadcrumbs in the opposite direction.

The witch behind him giggled. "Your heroics were for naught, they all come back to me in the end, back to me. You came back, and she'll come back. They all come back eventually."

_...here in my garden of shadows._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully a lot of you will recognize the lyrics sprinkled throughout the chapter as the song from Hocus Pocus. In the film only a few lines are actually song. The song though is supposedly from a poem written by Poe. There's a video on Youtube where the entire poem is sung (look up katethegreat19) and it's awesome and creepy at the same time. The song and the image of a witch luring a child away has been stuck in my mind ever since hearing it, and I'm happy I was finally able to include it in something. It's a shame that Disney didn't expand the song more in Hocus Pocus or use it in some other movie.
> 
> Next chapter, which is also the second to last chapter of this story, is called 'The Thirteenth Son, The Eldest Daughter, and The Middle Sister'. Gretel finds out Hansel has left the bakery and Hansel and Gretel finally deal with the witch.


	12. The Thirteenth Son, The Eldest Daughter, and the Middle Daughter

Gretel knew something was wrong the moment she opened her eyes. The sun was all the way out-indicating the time of day was closer to the afternoon than dawn, much later than her usual time of day. She also wasn't wearing her nightdress, but was still in her dress from the night before which was now crumpled and wrinkled- Mama was sure to have a fit when she saw it.

Actually, where was Mama? And her sisters? And why was she waking up so late in her dress from last night?

Her legs gave out from under her and she landed with a loud plop back onto the bed as the events from the night before came flooding back to her. The lights, Hansel's proposal and past. He had asked her to marry him and she had said yes. The happy moment was ruined minutes later when his true past had been revealed. Hansel was really Hans, a former prince who was banished due to his actions against the ruler of Arendelle. Actions that involved attempted murder and regicide.

Finally caught up, Gretel decided to go downstairs and find out why nobody woke her. When she got to the kitchen however, the feeling of wrongness increased tenfold. Nobody would meet her eyes. Her father was talking to Will while Beca hovered nearby; her mother was absent, probably out front seeing to the customers and her sisters were doing various tasks around the kitchen with Gertrude watching attentively.

All acknowledged her presence with a turn of the head, yet none would meet her eyes. Gretel swallowed, trying to push down the lump forming in her throat. Her eyes scanned the room for two bodies that didn't appear no matter how hard she wished. She knew that Hansel might not want to see her at the moment, but that didn't explain Teddy's absence. By now, he would usually come trotting out of whatever room he was in to greet her with his tail wagging.

"Where's Hansel and Teddy?" asked Gretel, her voice cracking, afraid of the answer.

After a few moments of hesitation, her father finally stepped forward and handed her a folded up piece of paper- all without saying a word. Gretel took it tentatively and let out a gasp as she read it. "What do you mean he's gone? Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you wake me up?!" demanded Gretel.

"We tried..." muttered Mia.

"Yeah," added Tilly, "but you kept telling us to leave."

"Loudly," finished Cara, with the others nodding in agreement.

Gretel didn't remember anything like that, but her sisters wouldn't lie to her and her mind was more focused on other memories at the moment. Like the fact that Hansel was gone.

"Your sisters are right, eventually we decided it was safer for all of us if we let you sleep," said her father.

Gretel was silent, considering her next course of action. She had to go after Hansel, that much was obvious. Last night she had been so upset and felt so betrayed she didn't even want to talk to Hansel. Her decision to ignore him had backfired though. It never once had crossed her mind that Hansel would leave.

Except he had, and she had to get him back. "Will," she said suddenly with a plan in mind, "can I borrow your horse?"

* * *

In hindsight, taking off on Will's horse Philippe wasn't the smartest decision she had ever made. For starter's she had never actually ridden a horse before. Will knew this of course, none of the Burg girls had ridden a horse- there was no need to when they stuck mainly to the village. It was still awkward riding with her sister's suitor though. Muscles ached that she didn't know she had- and she hadn't been riding that long. She was even still wearing the same dress from last night. Tilly had worked so hard on the embroidery Gretel hoped that after everything was over it could still be salvaged. Her hair was also a mess; she had left before even getting a chance to comb it. With the all the fly-aways Gretel had taken her hair out of the braid, not that there was much left in it anyway. The galloping horse had seen to that with the wind blowing it every which way.

Despite her achy body, dirty dress and messy hair Gretel had one thing on her mind- to find Hansel. She knew he most likely left Corona by foot. Her father had done some work, asking Will to see if anybody at the docks had seen someone matching Hansel's description that morning. They hadn't, and no ships had left early in the morning either. So she at least knew the direction he set off in, but there were several paths he could take once he reach the woods. Sure she was traveling by horse, but it might not be enough to catch up to him. That was why she left the house in such a disorderly state- there were more important things at hand than looking presentable.

At least, that was what she thought until they stumbled upon the King and Queen of Corona. They had been traveling at a rather fast pace- fast enough to cover ground quickly, but not fast enough to tire Philippe out to the point of exhaustion. Not very far into the woods a large group of people appeared, blocking the path in front of them. Will pulled on Phillippe's reins, slowing him down to a trot before coming to a stop completely.

From her spot on Philippe, Gretel could make out two familiar brunettes among the crowd. Instantly, Gretel regretted not changing out of her outfit from the night before, or at least combing her hair. For the second time in less than a day, Gretel was mere feet away from her rulers and once again she wasn't going to make a good impression. Last night she had been so in shock and angry at Hansel she had barely registered their presence, and now... well now she looked like a mess.

Judging by the worried expressions on the faces, her appearance wasn't the most pressing issue at the moment. The crowd seemed to be frantic- so frantic, few gave them more than a glimpse- searching for something. Or someone? Like Hansel?

No, she doubted the King and Queen would look so worried over Hansel. But maybe they had seen him...

Will stepped off of the horse and entered the crowd. Besides the royals, the crowd which was gathered contained other nobles of the Coronian court, foreign dignitaries, and several members of the King's Guard. Will approached one of the soldiers, figuring they might know more. Unfortunately, he was far away and out of earshot. After all her trouble getting onto the horse, she figured she would probably fall on face if she tried to get off. Instead, she stayed on the horse and waited for Will to return.

When he did, his face was as grim as the other's. "Apparently, Princess Aurora has gone missing. Nobody saw or heard anything... she was just there one minute and gone the next." He then added, just as grim, "They haven't seen Hansel either."

Gretel felt like she had been punched in the stomach, all the air left her body. Her and Will's eyes met, and both were thinking the same thing- was it the witch? Had she lured the little princess away to never be seen again? It was a somber thought, on top of what had already began as a bad day.

"He must have taken her!" shouted an angry voice. Gretel's head jerked up and she looked around for the source of the voice. Suddenly a dozen heads turned her way, their concerned expressions turning into anger. Will held onto Phillippe's reins and took a defensive stance against the crowd.

More angry voices filled the air.

"... he's wanted a throne of his own before..."

"...can't believe he would do this after..."

"...how could he..."

Horror flooded Gretel's face. They thought Hansel took the princess? But that didn't make any sense. Hansel was always so good with her sisters, he wouldn't kidnap the princess.

Or would he? If somebody had once asked her whether or not Hansel was capable of murder, she would have laughed in their face. Now she knew that Hansel had once been Prince Hans of the Southern Isles and been more than capable of such a thing.

But he had changed, hadn't he? The Hansel who had proposed to her last night was very different from the Hansel she had first met on that freezing night in Corona. Doubt started to creep in. What if he had taken the princess in some sort act of revenge? What was he planning to do with her?

No, she had to stop those dark thoughts. Besides, there were certain things that just didn't make sense.

"Hansel couldn't have taken the princess," she found herself saying, though it felt more like the words were coming from somebody else's mouth, "he left before dawn this morning and had no knowledge that the princess would even be in the woods."

"Perhaps it was a crime of opportunity!" suggested one of the soldiers.

A man, Hansel's brother if Gretel remembered correctly, then spoke. "My brother may have committed heinous acts in his past, but he loved living in Corona. I doubt he would throw all that away for a moment of opportunity."

Unless of course, he thought he didn't have a future in Corona, but Gretel didn't volunteer that information. Nobody had yet asked why Hansel had left so early or why Gretel and Will were so anxious to find him. She wasn't about to give them more fuel to feed their fears regarding Hansel.

"Instead of wasting time on these pointless accusations, we should be searching for the princess and remember that there are other dangerous creatures lurking in these woods besides a former prince," said Will, his eyes falling upon Queen Rapunzel. Those who were born and raised in Corona picked up on what he was implying. Not too long ago they had learned that the eldest sister was real. What if the middle sister was real as well?

From there, the speculation regarding Hansel's involvement ended for which Gretel was grateful. The group instead broke up into pairs with plans to search the woods for the lost princess. As much as Gretel wanted to continue looking for Hansel, she had to admit finding the princess was more important.

Especially if the princess was where Gretel thought she was.

* * *

While Will controlled Philippe's reins, Gretel was the one instructing him on where to go. She knew the path to the Rapunzel like the back of her hand, and was certain that if she had ever gone any further she would have stumbled upon the witch's house. None of the other search parties had ventured in the direction they were heading, believing it was too far away for the princess to walk to. Though if the witch and magic were involved, nothing was truly impossible.

The woods quickly turned from a friendly green to a dull grey as they raced through the forest. The lack of color and lack of animal and plant life was familiar to Gretel. It was less familiar to Will and Philippe. Will kept glancing nervous around and asking Gretel if she was sure they were headed in the right direction. Philippe started to slow down the further along they traveled. Will, who was just as skittish as his horse, didn't even bother to instruct Philippe to speed up. He was just glad the horse was still going and hadn't balked yet.

Gretel wasn't rather glad he hadn't been traveling at full speed. Otherwise he might have stepped on or they might have missed Teddy and the lost princess. Will got off the horse first, and helped Gretel off. Her legs were shaky and nearly gave out from underneath her. Her muscles yelled at her, and let her know she'd be regretting for the next several days.

Once she regained her composure, she took another look at Teddy and the princess. Teddy, who was happy to see Gretel again wagged his tail. As much as he wanted to run into her arms, he was hesitant to leave the princess. Her eyes were red and puffy, signs that she had been crying recently. Gretel noted a tear in her front pocket, not the princess really seemed to mind. What really caught her attention, was the necklace hanging around her neck.

The last time she had seen was last night, when she placed it around the doorknob to her bedroom. She had been in such a hurry to get downstairs and get answers from her family, she hadn't even bothered to check if it was still there. The fact that it was hanging around her neck meant several things. The first being Hansel must have grabbed it on his way out. The second being Hansel must have come across her at some point. The last, and perhaps most important, was that he wasn't the one who kidnapped her. After all, why would a kidnapper, take a child, give them a necklace and let them go?

If she needed any further evidence of his innocence, she knew Teddy would have never let Hansel take the princess against her will. He would have made a fuss and drawn attention to the kidnapping. Instead, here he was, comforting the small girl as he led her away from the witch's house.

So if Teddy and the princess were here, then where was Hansel? And why would he give the princess her engagement ring?

"Will," she said slowly, realizing what must have happened, "take Princess Aurora back to her parents. I'm sure they'll be relieved to know she's safe."

"Wait, what are you going to do?" asked Will suspiciously. While Gretel had been busy putting together what must have happened, he had been busy picking up the princess who had her arms outstretched wanting to be held.

"Finding Hansel."

* * *

That statement had been so simple. It was after all, what she had been aiming for most of the day. That was before she knew finding Hansel might also involve finding the witch, the source of her nightmares since childhood.

Gretel didn't know how she was going to take on a witch. It certainly wasn't something she was raised to do. When she was younger, she had been taught to read, write, do math, watch her sisters and help at the bakery. Defeating evil witches hadn't been part of the curriculum. Furthermore, there was that pesky little matter of her being a witch. Witches could do magic, and Gretel... well Gretel couldn't. It was one thing to hear stories about heroes defeating evil witches, but Gretel wasn't a hero. She didn't have magic, didn't have a sword, and didn't have a tragic back story. She came from a family of bakers, had a happy childhood, and had no desire to go off on a whirlwind adventure and take on evil witches and sorcerers.

She did have Teddy by her side, as eager to find Hansel as she was. That had to be something at least. She didn't know of many stories that featured cats alongside heroes. But Teddy wasn't an ordinary cat. With his help surely the two of them would be enough to take on a wicked witch.

It didn't take long for the duo to reach the part of the woods she never went beyond. Gretel paused, hesitant to take another step. Teddy stopped next to her, and looked up. He let out a loud and long meow as if to say, 'What are you waiting for, we have a Hansel to rescue!'

"Alright, then, let's go," said Gretel out loud to Teddy. She was pretty sure she sounded more confident than she felt. Teddy seemed to pick up on her anxiety for he rubbed his head against her leg.

Gretel nodded, but continued forward. She had to force each foot forward on the dead, lifeless forest floor and Teddy seemed to have just as hard of a time as she did. They continued down the path and reached a bend in the road. Following it revealed a cottage- though, it was the strangest cottage Gretel had ever seen before in her life.

The walls appeared to be made of gingerbread. Gretel had baked enough of it in her life she knew what it looked and smelled like, even when it was taller than she was. The door was made of solid chocolate. Around the door and sugar windows were licorice trim. There were intricate designs in icing on the sides, and Gretel knew that Tilly would have been memorizing it, her hands just itching to repeat the designs in fabric. The roof was made of brightly colored ribbon candy, standing out against the dull and lifeless forest. There was a chimney sticking out of the ribbon candy roof featuring peppermint bricks and icing, the air carried the scent of sugar and spices, reminding Gretel of the bakery. Her mouth was practically drooling, and she wanted nothing more than to reach out and take a bite.

A sharp claw in her leg made her cry out in pain. Gretel glanced down at Teddy, and she followed his gaze. On the ground surrounding the cottage were dozens of dead insects. Gretel had been so entranced by the candy-coated cottage she completely overlooked the dead insects and rodents on the ground which should have been a clue that there was more to the cottage than first met the eye.

So if the very material the cottage was made out of was poisonous, then maybe knocking on the front door wasn't the smartest move. Gretel crept around to the side of the cottage, trying not to pay too much attention to the cracking and popping underneath her feet. If she dwelled too much on what she was walking on, she might not be able to continue on her mission to save Hansel.

She took care not to get too close to the windows for she didn't know exactly how poisonous they were. The sugar windows distorted the image inside somewhat, but Gretel could still make out something. Against the back wall was some large object, an oven or stove perhaps? It was located under the chimney. There was also some large metal thing in the middle of the room with something moving around inside. The 'something' had a bit of red on top. Gretel's heart filled with joy- Hansel was still alive and there was no sign of the witch in the cottage.

Gretel took the same care to get around to the front of the cottage as she did to get around to the side. The chocolate door featured a caramel apple doorknob. Not wanting to get her hands sticky (or poisoned) Gretel used her dress to open the door. At this point her dress was a goner anyway, so some pieces of caramel on it wasn't that big of a deal.

The door opened and her dress fell away, taking a big sticky blob of caramel in the process. Teddy whizzed past her feet and Gretel entered after him.

The cottage was small. From the outside it had seemed so much... bigger. Gretel had been correct in guessing that the large object against the back wall was an oven. It looked much older than the ones they used at the bakery, made of stone rather than brick and the door was larger as well. There was a small bed to the side, along with a wooden table and chairs. The table was covered in dark stains and deep cuts. There were large knives and meat cleavers on top, sharing the same dark stains, no doubt the source of the cuts. Gretel felt her stomach flip-flop. Scattered around the room were various pieces of clothing and knick-knacks. Pieces of jewelry, music boxes, books.. all thrown haphazardly about in piles, not really belonging anywhere.

The most important furniture in the room in Gretel's opinion was the metal cage containing a rather bedraggled Hansel.

"Gretel," he cried, clutching the iron bars firmly in his hands. His face was dirty and sweaty, but Gretel had never been so grateful to see his face. Hansel felt the same. He couldn't remember ever seeing her with her hair down before, but was already preferring its messiness to the neatness of her braid. She had never looked more beautiful or alive.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" he asked. While he was happy to see her, he was also a little bit surprise. He had never expected to see her ever again. He was also very worried.

"Saving you of course," she replied nonchalantly, as if it was an everyday occurrence, just another day at the bakery. The cage Hansel was in was suspended by iron chains from wooden beams attached to the ceiling. Apparently the candy theme was limited to the outside only. There was a rusty padlock on the door to the cage causing Gretel to frown as she picked it up in her hands. "Hansel where's the key?"

"The witch has it. No wait, what I mean is what are you doing? Here? After last night..."

His voice choked up and he was unable to continue speaking. The lock dropped from her hand, but she didn't seem to notice. She reached out a hand to stroke Hansel's face. "Oh Hansel, just because we fight," Hansel shot her a look and she corrected herself, "Fine, I yelled, but that's what couples do. They fight sometimes, but then make up. Mama and Papa fight occasionally, but they don't leave."

Hansel reached out through the bars and took her hands into his. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about my past and left this morning."

"And I'm sorry I refused to talk to you last night," replied Gretel. "If it makes you feel any better, the princess is safe with Will."

"Princess?" asked a surprised Hansel. He knew plenty of princesses, but had no idea which one Gretel was referring to and why he should be relieved she was safe.

"You know, the little girl you saved," clarified Gretel, and a look of understanding crossed Hansel's face.

"I didn't know she was the princess," muttered Hansel, "I just thought she was a little girl who got lost in the woods."

Gretel smiled her warm smile, the one he loved so much and thought he would never see again. It reached all the way up to her sparkling eyes. "She was that too."

A meow from Teddy interrupted the tender moment between the reunited couple. He had found something among the witch's hodge-podge collection of possessions that could help Gretel break Hansel out of the cage. Sticking out from under one of the piles was a long, thin, metal bar with a curve at the end.

"Oh Teddy, that's brilliant," exclaimed Gretel. In response Teddy meowed an answer, 'I already knew that, thank you very much'. Gretel rushed over and started to pull on the bar to free it from the pile. A few grunts and groans escaped Gretel's mouth as she struggled, and a few snickers escaped Hansel's as he watched the spectacle. He had always been the one to do the heavy at the bakery, not Gretel. If Hansel was the one doing the tugging, the bar could have been freed minutes ago.

When Gretel finally did manage to free the bar, she fell backwards and landed on her butt. "Oof," she exclaimed and threw Hansel a dirty look when he snorted. Teddy was more helpful and started to paw at her to get up. She didn't even bother to dust herself off as she got up. Instead she immediately walked over to Hansel's cage and started to use the bar on the rusty lock and chains. From her experience trying to get the bar out, she knew she wasn't that strong, but hoped luck might be on her side and it wouldn't take that much work to break the lock.

If anything, luck was against her. She was so busy clanging away, neither her, nor Hansel, nor Teddy heard the door to the cottage creak open. Nobody noticed the witch had entered the cottage until she spoke aloud, "Good thing I got more wood for the fire."

The bar slipped from Gretel's hands making a thud on the floor. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she didn't know if she had enough courage to turn around and face the monster from her childhood. The one who starred in her nightmares ever since Gretel was nearly lured away like the princess. Her breath was ragged and she steeled herself for the sight she had never wanted to see.

The monster in her dreams had always been big, black, and shaped like a blob with sharp pointy finger-like claws ready to pull her into the darkness. Not the hagged, wraith-like creature before her. If Gretel had seen her in Corona, she would have probably gave her a pitying smile and perhaps some bread. Never would it have occurred to her that this was the witch she had been so afraid of as a child.

Then the witch gave her a gummy smile and any doubt she had about the witch's innocence faded. Oh why didn't she think to block the door? Now it was too late. How could she save Hansel when she herself needed saving? The mere fact that she was able to carry a large pile of logs in her arms with a rusty ax on top proved that there was more to her than met the eye.

"Leave Gretel out of this, she wasn't part of the deal," said Hansel as he reached out through the bars and grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him. It was an attempt to protect her from the evil witch seeing as he couldn't do very much locked inside a cage.

"No matter, no matter," replied the witch who eyed Gretel like she was a piece of meat hanging up in the butcher's shop, "like I said, they always come back to me, back to me."

Teddy hissed and made a move at the witch, but the witch, for as weak as she looked, managed to catch Teddy in the act with a swift kick. The kick threw him against a wall and Gretel screamed. She tried to get to him, but a cold, clammy hand on her arm stopped her. "Not so fast dearie, you don't want to miss dinner."

The tight wrist on her arm kept Gretel from breaking free. Both her and Hansel let out audible sighs of relief when Teddy raised a small paw in the air. He was alright, for now. Whether or not he'd be alright for much longer, Gretel didn't know, but it certainly allowed her to concentrate on other things. Like whether or not she and Hansel would be alright.

With one arm balancing the wood and the other around Gretel's, the witch dragged Gretel over to the oven. The logs were dropped with an unceremonious thunk on the floor. "Be a dear and stoke the fire," instructed the witch.

Gretel, who wasn't about to aid the witch in any witch, decided to stall. "Why? What are you going to do with us?"

Hansel watched the exchange curiously, trying to figure out what she was up to. Before, he had been content with his fate. But now that he knew that Gretel still wanted him, and he suddenly had a reason for living. He didn't want to be reunited with her, only for them both to die here, eaten by a mad witch. Yet, he was locked up, unable to do anything other than watch and hope that Gretel had a plan. Never before had he felt so helpless.

In answer to Gretel's question, the witch responded, "Well eat you dearie. I only had enough magic to lure the little morsel here, but now I have enough to last me for years. And they're all nice and tender because they're in  _love_ ," said the witch, drawing out the last part while stroking Gretel's cheek which caused her to flinch. Being touched on the wrist was bad enough, but now the witch was touching her so intimately. It was just so wrong. Everything was.

Gretel's eyes scanned around for something, anything that she could use as a weapon to knock the witch. While there were plenty of odds and ends scattered about the place, none were within her reach, even the crow bar she had been using to break Hansel out was so far away. The closest thing was the ax the witch had used to chop the wood, but that was currently situated on the far side of the witch. Gretel didn't have enough time to reach over and grab it and surprise the witch.

No, violence wasn't the way out. Gretel would just have to come up with another plan. Maybe one that involved using her brain rather than brawn.

"But I don't understand," said Gretel as innocently as she could manage, "we won't fit in the oven. How do you plan to get us into the oven?"

"Nonsense, girl," said the witch. "I've cooked plenty of fine meals in there, including several strapping lads much larger than you."

Gretel shook her head in disagreement. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to disagree. I've worked in a bakery my whole life, and I must say that is one awfully small oven. Isn't that right Hansel?"

Hansel didn't really know where Gretel was going with the conversation, but he trusted her with his life- literally- and followed her lead. "Oh yes, I've helped the Burgs in the bakery for several years now, and I don't even think you could make one decent loaf of bread in that oven."

The witch frowned and shoved Gretel out of the way. "Move girl," she said as she opened the door to the oven and revealed a fiery inferno. One that was obviously dying, and in need of the firewood. "See, plenty of room for two."

"I don't know," muttered Gretel, "it still looks awfully small to me."

The witch moved closer to the oven and positioned herself in front of Gretel. She spread her arms wide and exclaimed, "Look, I could fit five people in here."

Without a second of hesitation, Gretel went into action. The witch was standing on her left, so Gretel placed her left hand on her back, and used her right hand to deftly reach into the witch's pocket. Her right hand found a cold metal ring with several metal objects around it. With the keys firmly in her hands, she pulled it out all while pushing the witch head first into the oven with her left hand. Then, as quick as she could, she slammed the door shut.

It was all over in less than a minute. Gretel's blood felt cold at the realization that she had just killed the witch. It was in self defense, and the witch had taken who knew how many innocent lives over the years. But Gretel, had been raised to believe that murder was wrong and she had still committed the act.

"What have I done?"

"What you had to do to save us," answered Hansel. "And I must say, I'm very thankful."

Gretel turned around at him and smiled at him. "Oh Hansel, let's see about getting you out of that cage."

She had barely taken a few steps when a look of panic crossed Hansel's face. "Gretel, look out behind you!" Gretel looked behind her and had to stifle a gasp. She had thought once she pushed the witch in the oven, the witch would be done for. She was wrong, so very, very wrong.

The witch had managed to escape her fiery prison. Flames covered from head to foot, but that didn't stop her from making her way towards Gretel. If Gretel didn't believe in the idea of hell before, she most certainly did now. The witch was no longer recognizable as a witch. She was a nightmarish creature from the pits of hell, a skeleton en-wrapped in a cloak of fire. The smell was more horrible than the vision. She smelted of burnt, rotting flesh and Gretel felt as if she was going to be sick. Horrible sounds came from the creature, unable to form the words it was trying to say or scream in pain. The creature took a few steps before collapsing into a heap on the floor. It only managed a few more moments before it ceased to move all together.

Hansel and Gretel didn't have any time to feel relieved. While the creature may have been no more, the flames which had consumed the creature were now in the process of consuming the rest of the cottage. The flames greedily spread quickly along the wooden floor, among all the piles of junk, up the gingerbread walls and wooden support beams.

Knowing they didn't have much time, Gretel rushed over to the cage. Her hands were shaky as she placed the key inside the lock and turned it. Hansel tried to speak, but coughed instead. The fire had spread quickly and without any proper ventilation, smoke was filling the cottage. It stung Gretel's eyes and burned her lungs as she inhaled it. Not only was there little air, the little there was reeked of burnt gingerbread and other sugary confections. Gretel just shook her head at him, discouraging him from trying to waste his precious breath.

After escaping from the cage, Hansel ran over to Teddy and scooped him up in his arms before the nearby flames could reach him. Teddy wasn't moving much, but Hansel could feel him purr which gave Hansel hope Teddy would be just fine if they could just make it out of the fire.

Hansel and Gretel crawled along the floor where the little air remained. The fire was eating it though, and it was hard to navigate their way through the maze of piles. With the smoke hurting their eyes and concealing their vision, they had only their sense of touch to go by. The progress they were making gradually became slower and slower until it stopped completely.

Hansel could no longer see Gretel, but he knew she was there next to him. "Gretel," he croaked, before giving into a fit of coughs as his chest became tight.

Gretel put her hand into his free one, the other being preoccupied with Teddy. "I know," she whispered, before having coughing fits of her own. She was about to die with Hansel, but at least Hansel knew she still loved him. And at least the witch would claim no more innocent lives or haunt their dreams.

Hansel had gone through so much that day. He thought he had lost it all, bargained his life away, had been saved by Gretel, and was now about to lose it all. He felt ashamed because he was glad he wasn't dying alone. He shouldn't be happy Gretel was here dying with him, but he was. He didn't want to die alone; he had spent the majority of his life alone he didn't want to spend his death the same way.

That was his last coherent thought as his world turned to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do realize this chapter ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but please remember this is a Disney story and all Disney stories end happily. Next chapter is the last, and is called 'Hansel and Gretel'. Since it is the last chapter, the cliffhanger from this chapter will be resolved obviously. Also expect to see a Little Mermaid reference, and Jakob showing back up.


	13. Hansel and Gretel

_"...Then all anxiety was at an end, and they lived together in perfect happiness. My tale is done, there runs a mouse; whosoever catches it, may make himself a big fur cap out of it. The End."_

Hansel looked up at Jakob and asked, "I don't get it, why are we children?"

"And what's with the last line?" added Gretel.

"Well," explained Jakob, "people respond better to innocent children in danger rather than a former prince who once tried to commit regicide. As for the line, I thought it sounded a bit folksy. It's just poetic license, that's all," he said with a wave of his hand. "Besides, it's not like you two were that forthcoming with the details," he muttered quietly under his breath.

Hansel's response was a snort, while Gretel just rolled her eyes. While Jakob had been traveling abroad, he had also been collecting stories. Some of which were familiar to Gretel- the princess who had been a maid but had a fairy godmother and wore glass slippers to a ball where she met a prince; and stories that weren't so familiar such as the new Sultan of Agrabah being a former street rat until he met a genie. Then there was Queen's Rapunzel's story, along with Queen Elsa's, and now Hansel's and Gretel's.

"Isn't he just brilliant?" sighed a petite blonde who was seated next to Jakob at the table. In addition to finding stories while traveling abroad, Jakob had also found a wife. Christina was from a seaside kingdom that was between Corona and Arendelle, and that supposedly had a former mermaid as its queen. Gretel was unsure how truthful that claim was, but she couldn't deny that Christina was the perfect wife for Jakob. Supportive, a thirst for adventures, and she ate up everything he said- everything that Gretel never was nor wanted to be.

Sensing that his new bride had her fill of Jakob and his bride, Hansel grabbed Gretel by the arm and directed her to another table nearby where some of her cousins were seated. "Thanks for the book Jakob, I'm sure Gretel and I will read it often." The lie left Hansel's lips rather easily, but it was more polite than the truth. Telling Jakob that the copy of  _Grimm's Fairy Tales_  he and Will had given Gretel and Hansel as a wedding present was most likely going to be collecting dust on a shelf was a bit cruel. Hansel had flipped through the book and skimmed the stories, including his own. They were all a bit darker and different than the actual tales they were supposedly based on due to Jakob's 'poetic license'. Hansel would much rather live in the present than the past which was filled with darkness. _  
_

Especially a few months ago when he thought he was going to die. Trapped in the witch's house with smoke filling the room making each breath even more difficult to take and Gretel and Teddy by his side. Things had seemed so hopeless then. He had been so sure that it was the end for all three of them, especially when everything went black.

* * *

What happened after he passed out, he had no recollection of. He only knew what Gretchen, Reuben, Marten, will and the others had told him once he woke up. To his surprise not only was he alive, but he was in the infirmary in the Coronian palace with Gretel in a bed next to his and Teddy dozing contently next to her. There was a slight breeze coming in through the open windows with the curtains drawn in a such a way that it allowed the sunlight in, but not too much that the brightness overwhelmed his eyes.

The whole scene was so surreal Hansel had been sure that he was dead and in some sort of afterlife. Until a nurse had come him and assured him that he was very much alive and well in the infirmary in the Coronian palace. He, Gretel, and even Teddy were being treated for smoke inhalation, slight burns, and in Teddy's case a few broken bones. All were expected to make a full recovery- all of it due to one person.

After Gretel had left with Teddy, Will had reunited the princess with her parents and explained what had happened. Before a course of action could be decided upon, smoke started to fill the woods and the sky. Determined to find the source and prevent the fire from spreading through the woods, the group tracked it to the witch's house. Those who had grown up in Corona and knew the Tale of the Three Sisters recognized what it was. Fearing that there were people inside and the fire could spread, Elsa used her magic to shoot ice into the heart of the fire. The ice merely evaporated due to the intense heat at first, but after a while it started to run out of energy and cool down enough for Elsa to put out the fire completely.

The group started to pick their way through the rubble taking care to avoid any hot spots. That was how they found Hansel, Gretel, and Teddy- all miraculously still alive. If it hadn't been for Elsa's magic, the three would have died. The house's location in the woods made it near impossible for water to be brought in to extinguish the flames. Part of Hansel wondered if Elsa had known who was in the house if she would have worked as hard to put out the blaze- he hoped she would have for Gretel's and Teddy's sakes, but couldn't exactly begrudge her if she wouldn't have.

Initially, those who hadn't grown up with the story had dismissed it. A witch who lured people away to eat them in order to stave off death? Impossible. Surely, the crazy former prince was responsible for whatever was going on. Then they had started to go through the wreckage and found bones. Behind the house the witch had buried the remains of her dinner in several large pits. Skulls, leg bones, arm bones, and all the other bones that made up a human skeleton were found. There were a variety of sizes, but the majority were small, as if they had belonged to a child. There were so many of them, and it was hard to tell how many innocent lives the witch had taken over the years due to the haphazard way the bones were thrown in. The pits were so deep that after a while the group had given up trying to get to the bottom of them. Instead, they hauled the wreckage of the cottage away, did their best to cover the bones back up and create a makeshift memorial for all the nameless lost souls.

Those who had refused to believe the story at first and were quick to blame Hansel had become silent when the gruesome nature of the house was revealed. While they still needed to wait for Hansel and Gretel to wake up and give their version of events, it was clear that the two were most likely victims. Wanting to ensure the three got the best treatment possible, and as thanks for saving the princess if that turned to be the case (or make it harder for Hansel to escape if that was the case) they were all brought to the infirmary at the palace. Due to the former queen's illness years ago, the former king had made sure that the palace was equipped with the foremost healthcare experts, something the new king and queen had kept around as well. It had been rather handy for the new queen who had spent the first eighteen years of her life without so much as a cold due to her magical healing hair. With it gone, she was prone to overreacting to the slightest hint of any illness, afraid that it was something severe or what had nearly taken her mother's life and hers all those years ago.

Soon after waking up, he and Gretel had to give official statements regarding what had transpired in the woods. First to a royal party consisting of the former and current kings and queens of Corona, Queen Elsa, and Prince Marten along with half a dozen royal guards, and then to all of the Burgs. It was a rather exhausting couple of days so by the time he and Gretel were cleared to return to the bakery he was grateful.

That feeling disappeared upon his first day back to work. The bakery always had a good sized crowd, but once it was apparent that Hansel and Gretel were back at work, people were standing in lines outside in order to get in. So much had happened to the Burgs in such a short time, most people didn't know what to believe. Some had witnessed the proposal and Hansel's true identity being revealed, but many others heard it secondhand and wanted to confirm the wild story their friends and family members were telling them. Then there was the other wild story that nobody had truly witnessed, and only had bits and pieces from the staff at the palace or the few details the Burgs had released publicly. For several days, Hansel's and Gretel's interactions with the customers revolved around being congratulated for getting engaged, questioned on whether or not Hansel was really a prince, and if they really had faced down the terrifying middle sister in the woods and saved the young princess.

After a day or so, Hansel took to staying in the back of the bakery with Gretel, while the other Burgs took turns waiting on customers and answering their questions. Gretchen and Reuben never asked if the couple wanted help dealing with their new found fame, for which Hansel was grateful. They treated the two like the only important thing that had occurred was their engagement, nothing else. They also kept the younger Burgs at bay, shushing them whenever they started running their mouths and wanting to know what really happened for the umpteenth time. Recounting their escapade was hard enough the first time, and had gotten harder with each retelling, especially given the sensitive nature of certain parts. There were certain things nobody should ever have to hear, let alone little girls. He found the best way to get them off the topic was to distract them by asking them to tend to Teddy.

Teddy had taken the longest out of the trio to recover from his injuries, since he had been injured the worse. Having a cast and being bedridden for several weeks wasn't something he was fond of, but the attention he received made it bearable. The cat ate up every stroke, every bit of praise people would give him, telling him what a brave cat he was. He deserved all of it, of course. Hansel still couldn't help but feel guilty that due to his bullheadedness Teddy would forever be left with a limp in his back leg, an effect of being thrown into a wall. Reuben had taken to calling it his 'war wound', something to show off as a souvenir from battle. The comment usually made Gretel grimace. While, he felt guilt over Teddy's fate, she still felt guilt over the witch's. Despite being nearly killed and eaten, Gretel's conscience still bothered her. She was a baker, not a soldier. Unlike Teddy, her wounds were mental, not physical.

During those moments, when she would get a far off look, he'd simply grab her hand and pull her close to him. The two would stand still wrapped in each other's embrace for a few moments and everything would be right with the world and they would go about their day as if nothing had happened.

Until one day, shortly after returning to the bakery, something did happen. At least, something that was out of the ordinary for the bakery. Due to the higher than average foot traffic at the bakery, the kitchen was having a hard time keeping up with all the demand. They had run out of eggs earlier that morning, so Hansel had been sent to the market to buy some more. Gretel was in the kitchen helping her sisters wash and dry the dishes so they would be ready to go when Hansel returned with the eggs.

A small rap on the back door interrupted the neat and efficient line they had going. Gretel was washing the dishes, Lisa was drying them, and Tilly and Cara put them away while Mia looked after Teddy. Gertrude supervised the sisters next to the back door, and raised her head slightly at the knock.

"Mia, can you get the door? If it's Will, tell him Becca's in the front," ordered Gretel, who was too busy with washing one of the large mixing bowls to see who was at the door.

Mia nodded, and opened the back door with one hand with her other securely wrapped around Teddy who was snug in her arms. The opened door revealed a slender feminine figure who was most certainly, not Will. Her teal dress indicated she was rather well off, not just another villager. She had a matching teal scarf wrapped around her head which concealed her identity. Teddy however, nearly leapt out of Mia's arms and would have if it hadn't been for his healing injuries and Mia's tight grip.

"Is Hans-I mean- Hansel here?" asked the stranger in a quiet voice.

Shaking her head, Mia replied, "He's out to get eggs, but he should be back soon."

"Oh," said the stranger quietly, unsure of what else to do.

Gretel passed her last pan to Lisa to dry and wiped her hands on her towel. Putting a hand gently on Mia's shoulder she said, "Why don't you see if Teddy would like some fresh milk?"

Mia left obediently, though Gretel could feel Teddy shooting her a dirty look behind her back. She knew it was for the best- she didn't know what Teddy's deal with the stranger was, but Gretel wasn't about to let him injure himself even worse.

"Hansel's out, but is there anything I could do for you?" asked Gretel with one hand on her hip, trying her best to be as intimidating as possible. If this stranger was enough to put Teddy on guard, than so should Gretel. Gertrude wasn't that bothered, but she was getting on in years.

The stranger removed the scarf which had been hiding her face, which was rather recognizable once Gretel could see it. Gretel let out a slight gasp and immediately dropped down into a curtsy. "Your majesty."

"No, please don't," protested Queen Elsa, "that's really not necessary. I just came to see Hansel."

Gretel tilted her head to the side. "Why? Sorry your majesty, but I fail to see what further business you have with him. While I do appreciate you saving us, you made your feelings abundantly clear that night in the square." When Gretel was done, she took a moment to reflect on her words. She had expressed her thanks and acted politely, while making it clear that the sooner the queen left, the better. After everything Hansel had been through, Gretel was determined to protect him from further harm.

To her credit, the queen did blush. "I will admit, that wasn't my finest moment. I was just afraid it was another one of his schemes, and he'd hurt you like he hurt my sister." Elsa glanced bashfully down at her hands. "After his actions in the woods, I've been forced to reconsider my opinion of him. I'm returning to Arendelle tomorrow and wanted a chance to say goodbye and wish him luck." She paused, and looked back up at Gretel, holding her gaze. "From what I can tell, he really seems to care about you."

A part of Gretel wanted to inquire why Elsa hadn't visited them in the palace, or what happened to leaving the day after the coronation, but she held her tongue, reminding herself to behave civilly. If Mama found out she smart-mouthed a queen, her ears would be ringing for days. She had already come pretty close to crossing the line earlier, but Gretel had no intention of getting to the other side.

So she took a deep breath and said in as polite of tone as she could manage, "I'll be sure to pass on your well wishes your majesty. Now is there anything else?"

The queen shook her head and replied, "I suppose not, and am sorry for taking up your time."

As she turned to leave, Gretel felt something twinge inside her. The queen did seem to want to make amends with Hansel, something which Gretel should encourage rather discourage. "Wait," cried out Gretel, her right hand stretched out in the queen's direction, "if you're not too busy, perhaps you'd like to stay for dinner?"

A small smile formed on the queen's face, and unbeknownst to Gretel, her sisters' faces as well who had been eavesdropping on the conversation. "I'd like that very much," was the queen's polite reply.

* * *

When Hansel returned with the eggs, he was greeted with a peculiar sight. The kitchen was empty, and the store was closed. Hansel knew he had been gone for a quite a well, having been constantly stopped and talked to by various villagers, in addition having to haggle down the price of eggs to a more respectable price. The merchant had figured since Hansel had once been a prince, he surely could afford to pay triple the rate. It took Marten stopping by and explaining that being banished from the Southern Isles meant Hansel no longer received any money from the country, he had to rely solely on the Burg Family Bakery for income. The merchant still scoffed, but finally relented once Marten threatened to inform their majesties of the harassment his brother was receiving.

It wasn't exactly luck that Hansel had run into his brother. Marten explained that initially the Arendelle delegation was supposed to leave the day after Hansel's and Gretel's run in with the witch. However, their plans had then been postponed to the next day. Marten was worried about Hansel, and he and the other delegates wanted to know what happened in the woods, in case Hansel had been up to his old tricks. Elsa had declared the safety of Arendelle could be at stake if Hansel had returned to his old ways. Marten had visited Hansel and Gretel while in the infirmary, but had kept those details to himself, not wanting to upset Hansel and impede his recovery. Since the Arendelle delegation was supposed to leave tomorrow, Marten naturally had several matters to discuss with the queen before they left. Unfortunately, nobody at the palace had seen her since the midday meal, though she had informed her maid she'd be visiting the village for the rest of the day.

Hansel helped Marten search for Elsa in the village, which lengthened what was supposed to be a short errand even more. When it became clear Elsa was nowhere to be found, Hansel invited Marten back to the bakery for dinner, only to discover the peculiar sight of Hansel's fiancee and the Burg family dining with the Queen of Arendelle and sister to Hansel's ex-fiancee and attempted murder victim, and savior of Hansel and Gretel.

Considering all that he had been through, Hansel wasn't as surprised as he once would have been. Instead, he just sighed and put the eggs away in the icebox, and got additional chairs for him and Marten to join the table.

* * *

While the dinner in itself had been rather strange, it had gone rather well. So well, that the Burgs were willing to join Hansel at the docks the next day to see Marten and Elsa off. Queen Rapunzel and King Eugene were there too with Princess Aurora. Both gave polite nods and smiles to the Burgs while the princess seemed to remember Hansel and kept waving at him. To Gretel's amusement, he would wave back every time as if it was the first which sent the princess into a fit of giggles.

The next few weeks were a blur of activity afterwards since there was still the wedding to plan. The date was set for the middle of September- right before the chill of winter would begin setting in, but right after the leaves had started turning colors. Hansel had always liked that time of the year since all the leaves seemed to match Gretel's auburn hair which set it off rather nicely. Incredibly, the same dressmaker who designed Queen Rapunzel's wedding dress offered to design Gretel's dress along with the bridesmaids, and even let Tilly help. The dressmaker wasn't the only incredible thing about the wedding. Due to all those who wanted to attend, the only place large enough to hold it and the reception was the palace. Food was to be provided by the palace chefs (with the bread coming from the bakery, Gretchen and Reuben weren't going to let their daughter have anything less than authentic Burg bread at her wedding) , music by the palace musicians, and decorative lights by Lumiere's.

It was all too incredible to swallow really. Though during the weeks of planning, Hansel and Gretel had managed to piece together how their incredible wedding came together. Tilly overheard gossip at the dressmaker's shop that the dressmaker believed the wedding was to be the wedding of the year considering who was getting married- the disgrace prince of the Southern Isles turned hero of Corona and one of the well-known Burg daughters turned hero of Corona.

As for the rest of the incredible wedding preparations, some was in part due to the royal family's gratitude for saving the princess and ridding the realm of the witch. There had never been any official reward or award given for their service, which was what Hansel and Gretel wanted- leaving the royal family to offer thanks in more creative, yet subtle ways.

Hansel had to admit it was worth it though. Gretel looked amazing. The white sleeves came down to her elbows, the perfect length for the fall weather. Tilly's handiwork covered the dress in fine gold embroidery making up leaves and flowers in such a way that they seemed to be moving with the wind every time Gretel took a step. While Gretel preferred the plain look, Tilly and the dressmaker had promised the stitch-work would look elegant and classy, not ostentatious- which turned out to be true. Gretel's veil was nowhere as long as the queen's had been, stopping at her back midway, but it shared the same embroidery as the dress. Her sisters had braided her hair into a single braid, which was actually made up of several smaller braids which joined together, as well as braiding in flowers. They had also made her a crown of flowers for the veil to rest on, taking care so none of the flowers would be smashed.

While the bride's dress was usually fussed over more, some attention was given to Hansel's suit and even Teddy. Hansel wore a smart looking white suit which had the same designs as Gretel's dress. Teddy meanwhile had a small white bow around his neck with the same golden designs on a smaller scale.

Perhaps the most incredible part of all was the wedding present Marten, Elsa, and even his brother Ferdi and sister-in-law Snow White had sent- money for Hansel and Gretel to buy their first place. Normally when a bride married in Corona she moved into her husband's house. Except, Hansel was living in a small bedroom off of the kitchen which did not have the adequate room needed for newly married couple. Hansel knew that Gretchen and Reuben would have offered to help them, but didn't want them to spend their hard earned money on him, considering everything else they had given him. He had planned to go to one of the local banks for a loan, and spending the next several decades paying it off. The wedding present took care of it though. They managed to find a spacious house that was just a block over from the bakery that even had a garden in the back for Gretel to grow flowers. There was enough money left over to buy furniture to fill the house with. Hansel was too proud to take money from the Burgs, but he had no qualms about taking it from his own family if they offered. There was still a part of him that resented how he was treated during his childhood and if his brothers wanted to make amends by ensuring that he had a place to house his new wife, who was he to argue?

Gretel didn't say much when the present arrived, she was more in shock. She knew that Hansel had been a prince, but it was one thing to know and another to see proof of it. Proof which came in a rather large chest full of more coins than Gretel had ever seen in her entire life at once. She, and even the rest of the Burgs were glad when it was gone, having been spent on their new home.

She had equally mixed feelings about the other part of the present- an offer to travel to Ferdi's and Snow White's kingdom for their honeymoon. Gretel had never been outside of Corona, and had never wished to travel abroad, having turned down Jakob's offer on numerous occasions. To Hansel's surprise, she eventually agreed to go. He was perfectly fine with never stepping outside of Corona again as long as he had Gretel. She insisted that he seemed happier and more relaxed due to his renewed relationship with Marten, so surely renewing his relationship with Ferdi could only do him good as well. Hansel knew better than to disagree with his bride-to-be, and agreed to go as well. Of course that meant Tilly and the dressmaker working on even more clothes seeing as how Hansel and Gretel were to be the invited guests of royalty.

All in all, the wedding went off without a hitch. Even Jakob and Willheim Grimm's silly book couldn't put a damper on the night's festivities. After talking briefly to her cousins, Gretel pulled Hansel onto the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife. While walking out there Hansel saw that Teddy was contently sitting on the queen's lap and putting on quite his 'poor me' act for the little princess who was eating it all up with Mia describing his heroic actions in rather exaggerated detail.

As they danced softly to the beautiful melody which was played by the world-renown hooked pianist, Gretel let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" inquired Hansel.

"It's just, if somebody told me when I was younger that I would marry a prince in the Coronian palace while wearing a dress fit for a princess I would have laughed at them. Me, a baker's daughter, a princess?"

"Technically, you're not a princess," pointed out Hansel, "disgraced and banished prince, remember? Though if somebody had told me when I was younger that I'd face down an ice queen and evil witch, become a baker and cat lover, I'd have laughed in their face."

Gretel laughed and nodded her head. "Defeating the famous sister definitely would have sounded impossible then. Now, I don't think anything sounds impossible."

"Even a queen who once was a mermaid?" offered Hansel, as he twirled her around on the ballroom floor.

"Even a queen who once was a mermaid," agreed Gretel, beaming up the familiar wide smile he loved so much.

It was in that moment on the dance floor next to his new wife whom he was willing to die for (and almost did), and surrounded by his adoptive family and friends, Hansel realized something.

He had been right all along, Hans' life wasn't a fairy tale. But Hansel's  _and_  Gretel's  _was_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first started, the chapter started going in a different direction than what I planned on. Disney tends to skip straight from the climax with the villain to the happy ending, never taking time to focus on how the heroes deal with their actions in the climax. For instance, does Jasmine ever wake up from nightmares about drowning in sand? Does Rapunzel, who had an entire scene based on experiencing guilt for leaving her tower, ever feel guilt for leading to the demise of the mother figure who she had known for her entire life? Disney never addresses these questions, but I started wondering how Gretel would deal considering she's led a relatively calm life. 
> 
> I've also been waiting for the Brother's Grimm reveal since the very first chapter. For some reason the idea that the Disney version of fairy tales being true in this universe and the Grimm's being false amuses me greatly. I even changed their names a little, Jacob to Jakob, and calling Willheim Will to save the surprise. Also, the beginning is supposedly their version of Hansel and Gretel, which was taken from Wiki, so it could be wrong. If so, I apologize. I had the last line planned since I started, hence the 'Hans' life wasn't a fairy tale line' in some of the chapters.
> 
> That's it for this story. Thanks for all the kudos and comments!

**Author's Note:**

> This story started as an attempt to explain Han's actions in the movie and sudden betrayal, without going with the 'Hans is a sociopath' theory.
> 
> Since Hans is a Dutch/German name (and the character was named for the author of the Snow Queen), I went with that when naming the rest of his siblings. Because Snow White's prince is supposedly named Ferdi, I decided to include it into the story, and we never really learn of her prince's family, so he could have twelve brothers.
> 
> This story is about what happens after the movie, Hans' punishment, and how he learns what love really is. There will be a total of 13 chapters, befitting the title. Next chapter is called, 'The Eldest Daughter'. 
> 
> The entire story was originally posted on fanfiction.net.


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